Posted on 04/02/2006 6:44:14 PM PDT by GMMAC
No terrorism in deadly Toronto doughnut shop explosion: police
Last Updated Sun, 02 Apr 2006 21:16:42 EDT
CBC News
Police have ruled out terrorism as the cause of an explosion at a Tim Hortons doughnut shop in a trendy downtown area of Toronto on Sunday, killing one man.
The victim was likely an arsonist or attempting suicide, Staff Sgt. Don Cole of Toronto police told reporters hours after the explosion.
"He's not a strap-on al-Qaeda bomber guy," Cole said. "It sounds to me like a guy who either wanted to do a torch job or commit suicide."
Police said the man apparently carried a can of gasoline into a washroom stall about 1 p.m. local time at the doughtnut shop in the city's Yorkville area, and set off a flash fire that killed him.
The victim was an unidentified male who was pronounced dead at the scene with severe burns to his body. Nobody else was injured.
Explosion triggered flash fire: police
Police Chief Bill Blair earlier described the incident as a flash fire rather than a bombing. Two blocks in the downtown area were cordoned off as police investigated.
"It appears that there has been a very hot and intense fire in an enclosed area within the washroom," Blair said. But he declined to speculate on the cause of the fire.
"Until we determine precisely what happened in that cubicle and what caused those flames that took that man's life, I really can't speculate," he said.
Police said the victim was not a Tim Hortons employee.
They have not confirmed reports the man was seen entering the washroom with wires or possibly explosives strapped to his body.
After the incident, a police robot was used to remove a duffel bag from the doughnut shop, which is on Yonge Street just north of the intersection with Bloor Street. Explosives experts detonated the bag with a loud bang.
Police did not say what the package contained.
Eunice Almeida, 23, a regular patron of the coffee outlet, told the Canadian Press that a shock wave went through the restaurant.
"There was an explosion in the men's washroom, then there was a stampede and everybody ran out," Almeida said.
Eyewitness Jenny Phillips told Reuters that she heard bangs like pops from a firecracker and a scream "that will haunt me forever" as she left the washroom area.
She smelled burnt powder and saw a "wall of flames" inside the men's washroom before staff herded the two dozen customers outside.
"I thought the roof was caving in," she said. "People were screaming."
Blast rattles shop workers
Employees who appeared shaken were escorted from the scene, and some attempted to shield their faces from the throng of television cameras.
They refused to answer questions, but Tim Hortons district manager Amin Islam said they were doing well. "I'm just making sure they're going home safely," he said.
Daryl Fuglerud, a spokesman with Toronto's fire department, told reporters the man who died had burns to his body.
"It doesn't appear that there was much of a fire at all," Fuglerud said. "There was a very small amount of smoke upon our arrival."
Fuglerud said the investigation was turned over to police because it was a "possible criminal" case.
Copyright ©2006 Canadian Broadcasting Corporation - All Rights Reserved
I'll bet the idea of how to go about things came from the suicide bombers around the globe.
Oh, and there happened to be a device. But it was definitely no terrorism.
Probably for the same reason anti-Westerners focus on destroying McDonalds around the world.
Tim Horton's is THE pinnacle of Canadian capitalistic culture. They're everywhere in urban Canada; they're part of the daily/weekly routine of millions. People seriously relate; you mess with one Tim's, millions of Canadians take it personally.
The immigrant population of Toronto is incredibly huge (majority, IIRC).
Whenever I see a headline like this, I realize that the terrorists have what they wanted.
It's like every time you see a story about a car wreck, either it was "alcohol-related", "not alcohol-related" or "not determined whether or not it was alcohol-related".
An explosion in a donut shop in Toronto, injuring or killing nobody but some inept kook is now "not terrorist-related".
Western civilization is doomed, afraid of the formerly-large shadow we cast.
We're frisking little old ladies at airports, restricting travel when government authority figures are in the area, having to show ID when buying decongestants, etc., etc., etc.
Sometimes I am grateful that I have already lived more days than I have left.
Just kill me now.
And unlike American gasoline, exploding Canadian gas apparently smells like burning powder (according to a witness)...
Coverup??? What coverup???
There is a Canadian Tire gas station 1 block away.
If he is from the nations of Islam, I am afeared that Canukistan is in for a rather hot time of it from its immigrant populus.
I actually believe that this is very likely the scenario, but...does anybody else find it curious that we know nothing about this guy? No name, no ethnicity.
The internet is why it's getting so hard for the media to fool the people anymore. Absolutely a coverup.
They use a pork fat supplement in their frying oil and sell to Arabs without disclosure?
Or maybe the doughnut is a symbol of the Great Satan?
Or maybe No doughnuts = no soldiers ( In Afghanistan?)
I want to know if this man who just happened to want to commit suicide was a Muzzie.
He should have ID and KEYS on his person.
Perhaps the donuts really looked like danish- and we all know how some folks feel about the danish right now.
http://www.localnewsleader.com/olberlin/stories/index.php?action=fullnews&id=169506
'...Police said an emergency task force unit dispatched to a second Time Hortons coffee shop after a customer reported a suspicious package.
"(Police) dealt with it by exploding the package on the street," Blair said. "There was nothing in the package of a suspicious or problematic nature." '
But how are the doughnuts?
I've had a lot of bad doughnuts (if there really is any such thing as a "bad" doughnut), but so far none of them have killed me yet.
Everyone wants their 15 minutes of fame....someone from the station would have come forward.
The station owner wouldn't have offered to drive him to his car? Or was he suspicious looking??
Why has no one described him? Has anyone reported a missing husband or relative or friend in the last few hours?
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