Canada: Halifax Police say they foiled shooting plot

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Amid heightened security alerts everywhere, police in Canada remain vigilant. Canadian police say they have recently foiled a plot to carry out a mass shooting in the Halifax area.

Three suspects were recently arrested and a fourth reportedly shot himself dead after police surrounded his home. At least two suspects had intended “to go to a public venue… with a goal of opening fire to kill citizens, and then themselves,” authorities told reporters.

Police officials said the suspects’ motive did not appear to be terrorism. Nevertheless, they declines to provide any further details. Brian Brennan, commanding officer of the Nova Scotia Royal Canadian Mounted Police, said the plot had involved a 19-year-old man from the Halifax suburb of Timberlea and a 23-year-old woman from the US state of Illinois.

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The two, he said, had had access to firearms. When police went to arrest the 19-year-old man from the Halifax suburb of Timberlea, he killed himself. This, according to a statement by a senior police official who spoke with the AP news agency on condition of anonymity.

A 20-year-old Canadian man was arrested along with the 23-year-old woman at Halifax Stanfield International Airport. The fourth suspect, a 17-year-old Canadian man, was arrested at a private residence. The roles of the latter two suspects was still to be determined by investigators, police said.

According to the BBC, Brennan said he would describe the alleged plotters as a “group of individuals that had some beliefs and were willing to carry out violent acts against citizens. However, there’s nothing in the investigation to classify it as a terrorist attack”.