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
(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie. Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")
The best bet is the security service was told by the Administration of OU and the FBI to silence the guard because all of a sudden he wouldn't grant any more interviews. All requests had to go to the security company who just happened to be on contract with OU. This was one of the many connect the dots in this.
Everyone I know refers to the kid as the lone, depressed, suicide bomber who accidentally blew himself up. That is how idiotic some of the statements have been around here. I don't know a person who buys the official line on the OU bomber.
"It sounds to me like a guy who either wanted to do a torch job or commit suicide."
Yeah, that's the ticket. When I want to commit suicide, I decide to burn myself up in the bathroom of a restaurant. Alternatively, when I want to commit arson, and burn the restaurant up, I go into the bathroom during business hours and blow myself up.
I'm surprised these things don't happen all the time. Or only at University of Oklahoma football games.
They are not fooling the public, the question is, are they fooling themselves?
I hate to tell you......
I've been an Emergency Physician for over 20 years. The number of suicides or attempted suicides by bomb that I have seen or heard of was zero. Until the last few months. The bomber at OU outside the football game, now this one. Curious....
I have gathered everything I can find about that Toronto "Suicide" ( wink, wink, nudge, nudge-- don't panic! Nuthin' to see here folks, just move along... ) bomber here:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1052520/posts?page=762#762
Thanks for the update. If there is any new substantial info about this I would appreciate a ping.
It reminds me of the old law school Evidence 101 class demonstration.
During a humdrum evidence lecture, someone would run into the room, point a banana at the professor and shout "I have got you now, Moriarity!" then shout "BANG" and run out.
The next morning the professor would ask the students to describe the event and the perpetrator.
The stories would be widely divergent.
Circumstantial evidence can be more reliable than eye witness evidence.
Note to self...
I KNEW there wasn't supposed to be a toilet next to my computer! My boss said it was just an added option for MY convenience, but that I needed to be willing to share it with others.
backhoe,
YOU ROCK!
I appreciate your looking- thank you.
-why the hell would someone want to kill themselves with a bomb in a DOUGHNUT shop unless they were planning on taking people with them ?-
That'd be my first question. Particularly at 1 in the afternoon, when folks are popping in at the busy lunch hours. Plus the police are mighty quick to deny terrorism.
If a muSlum came in with bombs strapped on and the shop got PICTURES of it, they would deny it was terrorism. That's our gubmint(s), protecting us from terror - just deny it's happening!
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