MANILA, Philippines – Gunfire marred the normally peaceful Canadian capital of Ottawa on Wednesday, October 22.
Filipino law student Lou Janssen Dangzalan, originally from Quezon City, was in class at the time at the University of Ottawa, about 3 blocks away from the parliament buildings when gunfire broke out.
“We were having our courses [when it happened],” he said. While they couldn’t hear the shots from the university, their professor received a message to switch off the lights, stay away from doors and windows, put all phones on silent, and to lock the doors.
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“It’s crazy,” he said. “I never thought I’d see this happen in person. We are locked in our classroom, lights off, doors blocked.”
Police locked down parliament’s Centre Block. The BBC reported that areas near parliament, including schools, stores and hotels were also placed on lockdown.
While the picturesque city rarely experiences violence of this magnitude, Dangzalan said he wasn’t totally surprised that an attack could happen.
According to The Guardian, Canadian parliament voted to join anti-ISIS strikes last week. Canadian newspaper the National Post reported in September that an audio recording by ISIS spokesman Abu Muhammed Al-Adnani had surfaced urging jihadists to kill Canadians in an attempt to deter Canada from joining a military alliance formed to fight ISIS.
Dangzalan said, “Canada has become involved in the ISIS campaign, we are natural targets.”
Royal Canadian Mounted Police told reporters there were at least two – possibly 3 shooters, but have yet to confirm or rule out if the shooters were connected with any international terrorist organizations. – Rappler.com
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