week7- Canada parliament shooting

Canada raises ‘terrorism’ alert after soldier’s death

CLEAR THREAT: The country’s public safety minister said the assailant struck two soldiers with his car in a deliberate attack ‘clearly linked to terrorist ideology’

AFP, OTTAWA

Canada raised its national “terrorism” alert on Tuesday, officials said, after a soldier run over by a suspected militant died in hospital.

The alert level was raised from low to medium after authorities said a man they believed to be “radicalized” struck two officers with his car on Monday, but authorities said the heightened alert was not “the result of a specific threat.”

“This level means that intelligence has indicated that an individual or group within Canada or abroad has the intent and capability to commit an act of terrorism,” Canadian Ministry of Public Safety spokesman Jean-Christophe de le Rue said.

The assailant in Monday’s attack was identified as 25-year-old Martin Couture-Rouleau, who was briefly detained at a Canadian airport in July last year when he sought to fly to Turkey, federal police said. Police did not have enough evidence to charge him with seeking to join a terrorist group abroad and released him.

Couture-Rouleau was fatally shot by police after he struck two soldiers with his car in a Quebec parking lot — a scenario which had been depicted only last month in Islamic State (IS) propaganda.

At a press conference, Canadian Minister of Public Safety Steven Blaney said the deliberate attack was “clearly linked to terrorist ideology.”

“I am horrified by what took place here,” he said. “This is a terrible act of violence against our country, against our military, against our values.”

The attack took place as Canadian warplanes headed to bomb Islamic State militants in Iraq.

Canadian Minister of Defense Rob Nicholson said the soldier’s death “in a senseless act such as this only strengthens our resolve” to take on militant groups such as IS.

Couture-Rouleau smashed his car into the two soldiers in a supermarket parking lot before fleeing with police in pursuit.

He called 911 to tell emergency workers about the attack as it was happening. Police said he then crashed his car into a roadside ditch and rolled it over. When he extricated himself from the wreckage brandishing a knife, officers shot him.

The slain soldier had been admitted in critical condition to a hospital in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, 40km southeast of Montreal. At 53 years old, he had served most of his adult life in the military.

Officials said the injuries to the other soldier were not life-threatening.

The motive behind the attack is still being investigated.

Quebec police said Couture-Rouleau may have stalked his victims, waiting for them in his car for more than two hours.

They said the “terrorist thesis [was] being considered by investigators.”

Source: http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2014/10/23/2003602739

Structure of the lead

What- a man struck two officers

Where- in a Quebec parking lot

When- on October 22nd

Who- 25-year-old Martin Couture-Rouleau

How- with his car

Key words

assailant 攻擊者

deliberate 故意的

militant 激進

radicalized 激進

scenario 腳本

ditch 溝渠

extricated 擺脫