Halifax mass shooting plot thwarted

[Oneracon]

Simply put, there almost was a terrible mass shooting in Halifax yesterday (Valentine's Day). The three people involved had allegedly planned to go to the Halifax Shopping Centre "with a goal of opening fire to kill citizens, and then themselves" according to the RCMP. The only reason this isn't a post about all of the bystanders being shot to death was because of an anonymous phone tip to CrimeStoppers.

Because of the tip-off that they received on Thursday night, various police and law enforcement agencies from the US and Canada were able to collaborate. The Canada Border Services Agency arrested one of the alleged conspirators (Lindsay Souvannarath of Geneva, IL) when she arrived at Halifax Stanfield International Airport, and the RCMP arrested another who was at the airport to pick Souvannarath up (Randall Shepherd of Halifax). The third alleged conspirator (James Gamble of Timberlea, a suburban community 20 minutes from Halifax) apparently shot himself when police surrounded the house he was in. All of them had a history of posting some pretty disturbing things online, and Souvannarath apparently had pre-scheduled tweets that would have gone out as the shooting was happening.

A 17-year-old boy may also be involved, he was arrested Friday night but later released (though he is still under investigation).

Souvannarath and Shepherd have been charged with conspiracy to commit murder. Gamble's death, because it occurred during police operations, is being investigated by the Serious Incident Response Team (the provincial civilian body that oversees police). All of the three's online postings are being examined by police, including Gamble's disturbing Tumblr account.

Three long-barrelled rifles were recovered from the house Gamble was found in, and the police are still investigating if there were more weapons.

Sources
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scot ... -1.2957685
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scot ... -1.2958030
http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/two-charge ... -1.2236313

---

So on one hand: Hooray, the system does work sometimes! The RCMP, CBSA, Geneva Police, Halifax Police, and US Department of Homeland Security all cooperated and shared information in a fairly short timeframe to stop this shooting from happening. Like the Mayor of Halifax said: "Fortunately today we're talking something that could have been, not something that was."

On the other: The government is using this as free advertising for their online surveillance and expanded policing powers agenda, especially the upcoming Bill C-51. I do wonder about who those rifles actually belonged to, but it's hard to tell since Harper's government destroyed all the data in the federal Long-Gun Registry.

Of course, the peanut gallery of news site commenters blame radical Islam for this... despite the RCMP repeatedly saying that the group were friends "not based on culture or ideology". Never let facts get in the way of Islamophobia, right?

[Nebalon]

The person that made the tip made an important contribution in the war against terroism, and hopefully more people like that person exist in coming days, so more future attacks can be stopped. Good story.

[Yumyumsuppertime]

Simply put, there almost was a terrible mass shooting in Halifax yesterday (Valentine's Day). The three people involved had allegedly planned to go to the Halifax Shopping Centre "with a goal of opening fire to kill citizens, and then themselves" according to the RCMP. The only reason this isn't a post about all of the bystanders being shot to death was because of an anonymous phone tip to CrimeStoppers.

Because of the tip-off that they received on Thursday night, various police and law enforcement agencies from the US and Canada were able to collaborate. The Canada Border Services Agency arrested one of the alleged conspirators (Lindsay Souvannarath of Geneva, IL) when she arrived at Halifax Stanfield International Airport, and the RCMP arrested another who was at the airport to pick Souvannarath up (Randall Shepherd of Halifax). The third alleged conspirator (James Gamble of Timberlea, a suburban community 20 minutes from Halifax) apparently shot himself when police surrounded the house he was in. All of them had a history of posting some pretty disturbing things online, and Souvannarath apparently had pre-scheduled tweets that would have gone out as the shooting was happening.

A 17-year-old boy may also be involved, he was arrested Friday night but later released (though he is still under investigation).

Souvannarath and Shepherd have been charged with conspiracy to commit murder. Gamble's death, because it occurred during police operations, is being investigated by the Serious Incident Response Team (the provincial civilian body that oversees police). All of the three's online postings are being examined by police, including Gamble's disturbing Tumblr account.

Three long-barrelled rifles were recovered from the house Gamble was found in, and the police are still investigating if there were more weapons.

Sources
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scot ... -1.2957685
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scot ... -1.2958030
http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/two-charge ... -1.2236313

---

So on one hand: Hooray, the system does work sometimes! The RCMP, CBSA, Geneva Police, Halifax Police, and US Department of Homeland Security all cooperated and shared information in a fairly short timeframe to stop this shooting from happening. Like the Mayor of Halifax said: "Fortunately today we're talking something that could have been, not something that was."

On the other: The government is using this as free advertising for their online surveillance and expanded policing powers agenda, especially the upcoming Bill C-51. I do wonder about who those rifles actually belonged to, but it's hard to tell since Harper's government destroyed all the data in the federal Long-Gun Registry.

Of course, the peanut gallery of news site commenters blame radical Islam for this... despite the RCMP repeatedly saying that the group were friends "not based on culture or ideology".

Holy hell. Of course they're blaming radical Muslims. News comment sections are a cross-section of the worst of humanity, people who couldn't actually get a letter printed in a paper if their lives depended on it. It's pure venom, not even rising to the level of mediocre snark, and everyone on the right thinks that they're Bill O'Reilly or Rush Limbaugh, and everyone on the left thinks that they're Jon Stewart or Bill Maher.

At any rate, good on the police with this one. Well-done all around. This could have been a total disaster all the way around, and would have been an enormous shock to Canada.

[The United Colonies of Earth]

Simply put, there almost was a terrible mass shooting in Halifax yesterday (Valentine's Day). The three people involved had allegedly planned to go to the Halifax Shopping Centre "with a goal of opening fire to kill citizens, and then themselves" according to the RCMP. The only reason this isn't a post about all of the bystanders being shot to death was because of an anonymous phone tip to CrimeStoppers.

Because of the tip-off that they received on Thursday night, various police and law enforcement agencies from the US and Canada were able to collaborate. The Canada Border Services Agency arrested one of the alleged conspirators (Lindsay Souvannarath of Geneva, IL) when she arrived at Halifax Stanfield International Airport, and the RCMP arrested another who was at the airport to pick Souvannarath up (Randall Shepherd of Halifax). The third alleged conspirator (James Gamble of Timberlea, a suburban community 20 minutes from Halifax) apparently shot himself when police surrounded the house he was in. All of them had a history of posting some pretty disturbing things online, and Souvannarath apparently had pre-scheduled tweets that would have gone out as the shooting was happening.

A 17-year-old boy may also be involved, he was arrested Friday night but later released (though he is still under investigation).

Souvannarath and Shepherd have been charged with conspiracy to commit murder. Gamble's death, because it occurred during police operations, is being investigated by the Serious Incident Response Team (the provincial civilian body that oversees police). All of the three's online postings are being examined by police, including Gamble's disturbing Tumblr account.

Three long-barrelled rifles were recovered from the house Gamble was found in, and the police are still investigating if there were more weapons.

Sources
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scot ... -1.2957685
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scot ... -1.2958030
http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/two-charge ... -1.2236313

---

So on one hand: Hooray, the system does work sometimes! The RCMP, CBSA, Geneva Police, Halifax Police, and US Department of Homeland Security all cooperated and shared information in a fairly short timeframe to stop this shooting from happening. Like the Mayor of Halifax said: "Fortunately today we're talking something that could have been, not something that was."

On the other: The government is using this as free advertising for their online surveillance and expanded policing powers agenda, especially the upcoming Bill C-51. I do wonder about who those rifles actually belonged to, but it's hard to tell since Harper's government destroyed all the data in the federal Long-Gun Registry.

Of course, the peanut gallery of news site commenters blame radical Islam for this... despite the RCMP repeatedly saying that the group were friends "not based on culture or ideology". Never let facts get in the way of Islamophobia, right?

Stephen is a Republican, then. Thankfully Halifax isn't the site of a nutjob band's murder-suicide.

[Distruzio]

Clearly this is Obama's fault... for successfully thwarted asshattery?

Shit. I need to work on my hatred of the man.

[Oneracon]

The person that made the tip made an important contribution in the war against terroism, and hopefully more people like that person exist in coming days, so more future attacks can be stopped. Good story.

Personally, I think calling this terrorism is a stretch.

It would have caused terror, yes... but there was no political motivation behind the perpetrators. Judging by the online posts the police dug up, these people really were just obsessed with murder.

[Reploid Productions]

Huh. Reminds me of that time we were contacted for info on an ex-NS user by the RCMP like a decade ago. (In that case, was a guy we'd DOSed after he tried to turn NSG into his personal assassination terror plot blog.) Just goes to show that folks aren't as anonymous online as they'd like to think. Plus law enforcement is finally starting to catch up with the times and often it's fairly easy to locate online forms for reporting tips.

... And it's kinda sad that modding on Nationstates is the reason I know this. And that I know on a serious enough report, you're likely to hear back from the FBI in under a day.

Doesn't sound like this was at all politically motivated though. Sounds like run of the mill flavors of fucked up, rather than radical anything flavors of fucked up.

[Pope Joan]

Obsessed with murder...and suicide.

Teen-ish angst. It happens.

This does show the limits of gun control, for it is difficult to legally possess a gun in Nova Scotia.

http://novascotia.ca/just/public_safety/firearms.asp

Supposedly Lindsay would have been made to declare her guns upon crossing the border.

http://www.legalinfo.org/visitors-to-ns/firearms.html

[Tubbsalot]

The person that made the tip made an important contribution in the war against terroism, and hopefully more people like that person exist in coming days, so more future attacks can be stopped. Good story.

Neither Brennan nor Halifax Regional Police Chief Jean-Michel Blais would characterize the alleged plot as terrorism. They say their investigation shows the plan had nothing to do with ethnic or political motivation.

...

[Yumyumsuppertime]

The person that made the tip made an important contribution in the war against terroism, and hopefully more people like that person exist in coming days, so more future attacks can be stopped. Good story.

Neither Brennan nor Halifax Regional Police Chief Jean-Michel Blais would characterize the alleged plot as terrorism. They say their investigation shows the plan had nothing to do with ethnic or political motivation.

...

Good catch.

[United States Kingdom]

This is very good. I am very happy the mass shooting did not occur.

[Ikania]

Huh. Reminds me of that time we were contacted for info on an ex-NS user by the RCMP like a decade ago. (In that case, was a guy we'd DOSed after he tried to turn NSG into his personal assassination terror plot blog.) Just goes to show that folks aren't as anonymous online as they'd like to think. Plus law enforcement is finally starting to catch up with the times and often it's fairly easy to locate online forms for reporting tips.

... And it's kinda sad that modding on Nationstates is the reason I know this. And that I know on a serious enough report, you're likely to hear back from the FBI in under a day.

Doesn't sound like this was at all politically motivated though. Sounds like run of the mill flavors of fucked up, rather than radical anything flavors of fucked up.

Wow, that's fucked up. Must ask though, did it help the case at all? I'd hate to see a criminal go uncaught.

[Oneracon]

Obsessed with murder...and suicide.

Teen-ish angst. It happens.

This does show the limits of gun control, for it is difficult to legally possess a gun in Nova Scotia.

http://novascotia.ca/just/public_safety/firearms.asp

Supposedly Lindsay would have been made to declare her guns upon crossing the border.

http://www.legalinfo.org/visitors-to-ns/firearms.html

It's actually quite easy to legally possess this type of gun.

Long-barrelled rifles (often called "long guns" in Canada) like the ones found in this case are not restricted or prohibited firearms, which are specific categoroies in the Firearms Act, and therefore do not have to be registered in the Canadian Firearms Registry. All you need to purchase long guns in Canada is a valid Possession and Acquisition License, which only requires completion of a safety course and a background check.

[United Provinces of Swaziland]

Thankfully a tragedy was avoided.

[Reploid Productions]

Huh. Reminds me of that time we were contacted for info on an ex-NS user by the RCMP like a decade ago. (In that case, was a guy we'd DOSed after he tried to turn NSG into his personal assassination terror plot blog.) Just goes to show that folks aren't as anonymous online as they'd like to think. Plus law enforcement is finally starting to catch up with the times and often it's fairly easy to locate online forms for reporting tips.

... And it's kinda sad that modding on Nationstates is the reason I know this. And that I know on a serious enough report, you're likely to hear back from the FBI in under a day.

Doesn't sound like this was at all politically motivated though. Sounds like run of the mill flavors of fucked up, rather than radical anything flavors of fucked up.

Wow, that's fucked up. Must ask though, did it help the case at all? I'd hate to see a criminal go uncaught.

As far as I'm aware, it probably did. The guy stopped trying to evade the DOS not long after we gave 'em the info we had, anyway.

[Pope Joan]

Obsessed with murder...and suicide.

Teen-ish angst. It happens.

This does show the limits of gun control, for it is difficult to legally possess a gun in Nova Scotia.

http://novascotia.ca/just/public_safety/firearms.asp

Supposedly Lindsay would have been made to declare her guns upon crossing the border.

http://www.legalinfo.org/visitors-to-ns/firearms.html

It's actually quite easy.

Long-barrelled rifles (often called "long guns" in Canada) like the ones found in this case are not restricted firearms, which is a specific category in the Firearms Act, and do not have to be registered with the Canadian Firearms Registry. To purchase long guns in Canada, all you need a valid Possession and Acquisition License (which only requires completion of a safety course and a background check).

So, after completing my safety course I am free to carry out my plan for mass murder?

Ironic.

[Oneracon]

It's actually quite easy.

Long-barrelled rifles (often called "long guns" in Canada) like the ones found in this case are not restricted firearms, which is a specific category in the Firearms Act, and do not have to be registered with the Canadian Firearms Registry. To purchase long guns in Canada, all you need a valid Possession and Acquisition License (which only requires completion of a safety course and a background check).

So, after completing my safety course I am free to carry out my plan for mass murder?

Ironic.

Yup, that's the frightening thing about it. Though imagine how much worse it could have been if they had access to some of the firearms people have used in mass shootings in the US.

Long guns were actually more strictly regulated before the current government came to power. The Canadian Firearms Registry was established in 1993 as a mandatory register for all firearms in the country after the massive outcry following the 1989 Ecole Polytechnique massacre (when a 25-year-old man systematically hunted down and shot 14 female engineering students at the Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal with a Ruger Mini-14 rifle because "feminists ruined his life"), but Stephen Harper's government eliminated the requirement to register long guns in 2012 with significant support from gun lobbyists.