Shooting at Toronto Downtown Eaton Centre - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

LChoy · 06-02-2012, 06:15 PM

Not sure if CP cares about this since it's in Toronto but a gunman started shooting in the food court at the Eaton Centre. Latest is 6 shot, 1 fatally. Mass evacuation and a swarm of police presence now

I live just off of Dundas, so it's pretty crazy seeing all the police and emergency services from my condo window

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toront...-shooting.html

http://www.thestar.com/news/article/...on-centre?bn=1

I think the thing that amazed me most was how fast the news travelled through twitter

bluejays · 06-02-2012, 06:35 PM

Twitter is great for breaking news. It's slowly becoming a pretty decent news source, though rumors often happen which spread like wildfire. As for the incident, CP24 and the like were down there pretty fast, and for lack of a better choice of words, it looks like it's blown outta proportion considering the small numbers involved. Hopefully no innocent bystanders were injured, but man, what can you do about the idiots who do these things. Without a doubt, if the gunman isn't the one shot, he should be locked up for life for endangering numerous others who are not involved. I have 2 aunts working in the Eaton's Centre, who had to be evacuated and I'm sure they'll have a story or two to tell.

STeeLy · 06-02-2012, 06:49 PM

I have a friend who lives nearby and has a view of TD Square and Eaton center (in Toronto). She's pretty shocked right now from just looking out her window.

Caged Great · 06-02-2012, 06:59 PM

Brett Lawrie of all people was the one that broke the news on twitter as he was in the building at the time.

Joborule · 06-02-2012, 07:13 PM

Was keeping track of this on Twitter. Unfortunate event.

flames_1987 · 06-02-2012, 07:20 PM

Shooter still at large. Another update from police coming in a minute. 1 dead 7 injured. Some in critical condition. Scary to have this happen in the busiest place on a Saturday in Toronto.

ranchlandsselling · 06-02-2012, 07:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fleury

Twitter is great for breaking news. It's slowly becoming a pretty decent news source, though rumors often happen which spread like wildfire. As for the incident, CP24 and the like were down there pretty fast, and for lack of a better choice of words, it looks like it's blown outta proportion considering the small numbers involved. Hopefully no innocent bystanders were injured, but man, what can you do about the idiots who do these things. Without a doubt, if the gunman isn't the one shot, he should be locked up for life for endangering numerous others who are not involved. I have 2 aunts working in the Eaton's Centre, who had to be evacuated and I'm sure they'll have a story or two to tell.

bluejays · 06-02-2012, 07:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ranchlandsselling

I know you're just trying to get a reaction, but the truth is it could have been a disaster, but wasn't (numbers wise). I'm not condoning such stupid behavior, but it was in the perfect place for national attention given the vast amount of media headquarters in the area. To me, the video killing of the guy in Montreal is much crazier than something like this. Anyway, all I'm saying is it appears to be an errand gangster rather than a terrorist plot. Nothing else to see here.

STeeLy · 06-02-2012, 07:48 PM

Yeah might only be 8 people injured, but a traumatic experience for many many people.

It's not just the people who were injured, it's people who were evacuated, people who live in the area, people who work in the area, etc...

I'm not sure if he was trying to get a reaction, but I honestly don't think it's blown out of proportion at all.

ranchlandsselling · 06-02-2012, 07:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fleury

I know you're just trying to get a reaction, but the truth is it could have been a disaster, but wasn't (numbers wise). I'm not condoning such stupid behavior, but it was in the perfect place for national attention given the vast amount of media headquarters in the area. To me, the video killing of the guy in Montreal is much crazier than something like this. Anyway, all I'm saying is it appears to be an errand gangster rather than a terrorist plot. Nothing else to see here.

No you don't. Because I wasn't trying to get a reaction. Was just shocked someone would consider at least 8 people being shot, 1 of which is dead, some critical in a major Canadian shopping centre to be already "blown out of proportion".

BlackArcher101 · 06-02-2012, 07:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fleury

Twitter is great for breaking news. It's slowly becoming a pretty decent news source

Couldn't disagree more. The only thing twitter is good for is that it lets you know something is going down. No one should ever rely on it to figure out what is going on or to answer the W5 questions.

The grass fire near Lethbridge last year is a great example of that, where about 90% of the tweets were false info. It turned into a big game of telephone and people pretending to be in the know or directly affected. There were even people posting photos 3 hours late, which were then retweeted as current info, then suddenly there was fire again even though it was put out.

jayswin · 06-02-2012, 08:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fleury

I know you're just trying to get a reaction, but the truth is it could have been a disaster, but wasn't (numbers wise). I'm not condoning such stupid behavior, but it was in the perfect place for national attention given the vast amount of media headquarters in the area. To me, the video killing of the guy in Montreal is much crazier than something like this. Anyway, all I'm saying is it appears to be an errand gangster rather than a terrorist plot. Nothing else to see here.

Who was saying it was a terrorist plot? Everyone seems to be saying it was a lone gunman, who opened fire in one of the most busy places in Toronto, hitting 8 people, killing one and criticially injuring others.

Add to that, the complexity of a emergency response in a the crowded Eaton Centre, and I'd say there's nothing being blown out of proportion.

Slava · 06-02-2012, 08:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlackArcher101

Couldn't disagree more. The only thing twitter is good for is that it lets you know something is going down. No one should ever rely on it to figure out what is going on or to answer the W5 questions.

The grass fire near Lethbridge last year is a great example of that, where about 90% of the tweets were false info. It turned into a big game of telephone and people pretending to be in the know or directly affected. There were even people posting photos 3 hours late, which were then retweeted as current info, then suddenly there was fire again even though it was put out.

It depends on who you follow and where the news is coming from. I follow a number of journalists and I find the information amazing. You can find things out nearly instantly and really if it's a reputable journalist you are fairly safe in believing the info.

BlackArcher101 · 06-02-2012, 08:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Slava

It depends on who you follow and where the news is coming from. I follow a number of journalists and I find the information amazing. You can find things out nearly instantly and really if it's a reputable journalist you are fairly safe in believing the info.

Only good one I follow so far is 660news, do you have any others? I have noticed some media are using tweets as story sources now. Or worse, they are using twitter info to create a story without sending anyone out for a first hand look.

OffsideSpecialist · 06-02-2012, 08:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fleury

I know you're just trying to get a reaction, but the truth is it could have been a disaster, but wasn't (numbers wise). I'm not condoning such stupid behavior, but it was in the perfect place for national attention given the vast amount of media headquarters in the area. To me, the video killing of the guy in Montreal is much crazier than something like this. Anyway, all I'm saying is it appears to be an errand gangster rather than a terrorist plot. Nothing else to see here.

This story isn't even getting the same attention as the body parts mailer is it? Maybe it's just in ottawa, but the Citizen has a full section online dedicated to magnatta (which I imagine is exactly what he wants) whereas there is only a small story regarding the shooting at Eaton Centre.

Slava · 06-02-2012, 08:36 PM

I just mean journalists themselves as opposed to a news channel/outlet. In this I follow Kady O'Malley (@kady) because she tweets about a lot of other things I'm interested in. She basically live-tweeted a press conference about the shooting and also provides other journalists who are covering the events. Normally she doesn't cover these kinds of events, but journalists have a good network and a kind of "fraternity" (or so it appears to me, as someone totally on the outside).

I totally agree with part of what you're saying. If you're relying on an average guy like me to provide info then there is no question its unreliable.

Machiavelli · 06-02-2012, 09:48 PM

I was just there earlier this afternoon; that's really scary. Funny thing is that there was a strange fire alarm at that time with a lot of overhead announcements.

Northendzone · 06-02-2012, 09:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Caged Great

Brett Lawrie of all people was the one that broke the news on twitter as he was in the building at the time.

I would not have guessed that he would have been there.......

flames_1987 · 06-03-2012, 07:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fleury

I know you're just trying to get a reaction, but the truth is it could have been a disaster, but wasn't (numbers wise). I'm not condoning such stupid behavior, but it was in the perfect place for national attention given the vast amount of media headquarters in the area. To me, the video killing of the guy in Montreal is much crazier than something like this. Anyway, all I'm saying is it appears to be an errand gangster rather than a terrorist plot. Nothing else to see here.

Yes, if everything is measured by whether or not it was an international terrorist attack, then this one looks minimal. But please save your case for trying to downplay this or CP24's response, especially when nobody knew the exact details for hours after, even if the gunmen was still in the building. Their coverage was hardly over the top, people getting shot in the busiest Toronto location on Saturday is big news. Especially when we start talking about pregnant women being injured, an innocent child being shot and a young man losing his life.

normtwofinger · 06-03-2012, 09:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fleury

Twitter is great for breaking news. It's slowly becoming a pretty decent news source, though rumors often happen which spread like wildfire. As for the incident, CP24 and the like were down there pretty fast, and for lack of a better choice of words, it looks like it's blown outta proportion considering the small numbers involved. Hopefully no innocent bystanders were injured, but man, what can you do about the idiots who do these things. Without a doubt, if the gunman isn't the one shot, he should be locked up for life for endangering numerous others who are not involved. I have 2 aunts working in the Eaton's Centre, who had to be evacuated and I'm sure they'll have a story or two to tell.

What a dumb post. Would this still be blown out of proportion if one of your aunts were part of the small numbers?