Toronto - Suspicious Device Is Dismantled By Bomb Squad

Toronto - Suspicious Device Is Dismantled By Bomb Squad

www.citytv.com

Members of the Bomb Squad dismantled a suspicious device found in a vehicle on Markham Road Monday, ending a lengthy evacuation that affected thousands of people.


Police, fire, and a HAZMAT team rushed to the scene of a towing yard at 2671 Markham Rd., just north of Finch following the discovery of a cube van containing suspicious and possibly explosive substances.

An area of about 1.6 squared kilometres, bordered by Steeles, Finch, Middlefield and Morningside, was evacuated after reports that the van was in close proximity to a large propane tank at Williams Towing Service Ltd.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Not much news on this yet.

The area is now safe and back to normal. There was a 27 yearold man taken into custody. Charges have not been announced.

Seems there was an explosive device wired to the van.

I know this is Toronto/Canada and likely not much interest here. We have a potential forced election on the way, and if I were a suspicious person I may connect this incident to the gov.

Wonder if anything come of this one.

www.citytv.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

1.6 kilometers? even when the Fire Brigade suspects propane tanks are about the explode the cordon is only ever usually a few hundred meters wide.
To seal off a area almost a entire mile wide seems over the top, even on 9/11 people were standing barely meters away from both towers at times.

reply to post by PowerSlave


Yep, Toronto has hit the big time and with over 4 million people living there now there's bound to be some wackos. In a related story one of the would be bombers was sentenced to 14 years recently (link: www.cbc.ca... ). About six of them planned in 2006, to bomb the CN Tower, CSIS (the Canadian equivalent of the CIA), capture and behead CBC TV employees across the street, capture and behead the Prime Minister etc etc. I will never forget the day after their arrests, their women folk dressed from head to toe in hijabs angrily went to the police station demanding the release of these nuts. WTF is in their heads?

reply to post by Nicolas Flamel


I believe they were planning on taking out the TSX(Toronto stock exchange) as well.

Yes Toronto is now in the big time. 5th Largest city in North America

Only behind

Mexico City
New York City
Los Angeles
Chicago
Toronto

So it wasn't a BOMB afterall. It was probably a VCR.

But gee, doesn't this kind of thing keep the idea of Terrorists[!!!] fresh in everyone's minds....

I hate the way the press release was given.

"The safety to the public has been restored," Toronto police Insp. Howie Page told reporters at around 6:45 p.m.

"The Emergency Task Force bomb squad have successfully dismantled the device in the vehicle," he said.

"At this point it's too early to determine exactly what the device was and the Emergency Task Force will be examining the device."

www.cbc.ca...

Firstly, by the language of 'restored', he is indicating, falsely or not, that there was indeed danger, and the crews overcame it...
Then he says the device was dismantled, before saying that the ETF doesnt even know what it is? Then how did they know it was a bomb? How did they know how to diffuse it and restore public safety? if they are still trying to figure out what it is, then the bomb squad hasnt detonated it safely like they always do and so it is still in their possession. How do they not know its live?

Haven't seen a story with so few details in a long while. Why all the secrecy?

Somebody is arrested for doing what exactly?

There was a "suspicious substance" in the van? Like what? What did it look like that made it so suspicious?

A vehicle wired with maybe a bomb, but not sure??

I sure hope they release something more considering all the commotion.

Are we talking dirty bomb? Biological? Chemical? Something big must have been suspected.

reply to post by wayno


saw an article this morning (sorry no link) that described it as a section of PVC pipe with wires attached to it and seemingly filled with liquid. the device was attached to the rear of the van and an aerial photo i saw showed itparked next to a Huge propane tank.

Not sure who would be dumb enough to have the bomb easily visible on the outside of the van, however seeing as how it was in a towing yard would not the truck driver have seen it while hooking the van to be towed?? if not then clearly it means it was atached after the van was put in the lot, but then why are they charging the owner of the vehicle, he wouldnt have had access to the lot to put the bomb there.

The whole deal doesnt make sense to me, and maybe its the ATSer in me but i am more inclined to believe it was a PR stunt by the police or the government. Ontario has become a joke and under Fantino the police have become overzealous in their tactics and politics.

reply to post by kidney thief


Think about it this way. It takes some big brass ones to walk up to what is believed to be a bomb and to dismantle it enough to make sure that it isn't.

For anybody who thinks that there was too much of a safety zone, go and watch the Mythbusters episode where they blow up the cement truck.

When I was a kid the local fire department used to come to the school and hold a seminar. It had the basics on fire prevention, how to use a fire extingusher and since there was a lot of strip mining in the area a segment on blasting caps and explosives. We got to touch, feel and smell dynamite, blasting gel, gunpowder and other explosives. We then knew what to do if we found something in the woods. They ended with the old type M-80 in the simulated hand display. I had that reinforced years later by some classes I had in the Navy.

I think that it would be a good idea to bring back these classes. It might cut down on the number of false alarms. It also might help prevent someone from setting off a bomb in the future.

Think about it this way, most explosive compounds stink. They have a distinctive odor. What if somebody had identified the odor that had to be coming from McVeigh's truck before he got to the Federal building and called the cops?

reply to post by JIMC5499


I have no problem with the safety zone they cordoned off at all. They did the job they were supposed to, one that could have cost a lot of lives if they hadn't. Good on them. I guess their vague press release is a similar version of damage control. Its just too bad that the curious like me wont get much more of the story as it is intriguing.
The problem is the way their PR handles it makes it sound like an error (on the side of caution) that they are trying to cover up as opposed to an averted catastrophe.

reply to post by kidney thief


Look at some of the posts here. If they claim averted catastrophe then they are accused with overreacting. If they claim erroring on the safe side then they are called incompetant. No win situation.

Man's name is Shaun Morris.


Toronto man charged in explosives scare

When this guy found that his van was gone, he reported it missing to the police. And said that it had an "alternative fuel system."