Canada was assaulted Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2014.
The terrorist was a 32-year-old shooter.
His first target looked like an armed uniformed soldier standing guard at the National War Memorial.
Actually, he slaughtered 24-year-old reservist and proud father of a 6-year-old son, Cpl. Nathan Cirillo of the Hamilton-based Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada, who was performing honorary sentry duty with an unloaded rifle.[1]
The terrorist was not a crazed fanatic shooting indiscriminately at nearby innocents. After murdering Cpl Cirillo, he drove a short distance to the Parliament building, gained entrance, and caused legislators to barricade the doors. Eventually, the purposeful terrorist was killed by the sergeant-at-arms for the House of Commons, 29-year RCMP veteran Kevin Vickers.
The terrorist succeeded in creating terror.[2] Amid fear and uncertainty, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) responded by evacuating the post office building. When the door of the building opened, heavily armed and armored RCMP officers quickly formed a human line of defense; their eyes constantly scanning the area, their weapons ready to kill. Television showed evacuees rushing from the building to a waiting armored police vehicle. [3]
No one attacked the evacuees. It could be said that the display of organization and protective power was effective, though we will probably never know whether there was another gunman.
If there had been a second shooter, moving the security detail into a human-cordon would have drawn attention to each person leaving the building.
Lessons Learned
1. During a terrorist attack, when a building must be evacuated to a vehicle outside, enclose the space between the building and the vehicle with temporary Kevlar tenting to thwart snipers from acquiring their target.
2. Replace unloaded ceremonial rifles with other implements.
Notes:
1. The Telegraph, accessed 10/23/14.
2. NewsBlaze, John McCormick, “Ottawa Shooting Update – Police Press Conference at 2:17 Eastern Time,” accessed 10/25/2014.
3. MSNBC, Chris Hayes, “Stunning video of police evacuating Ottawa post office,” accessed 10/23/2014.
(c) 2014 Steven M. Blumrosen. Syndicated, permission granted for one-time internet publication by NewsBlaze.
