Canada Police Foil Valentine's Day Massacre Attempt in Nova Scotia
Police in Canada say they have foiled an alleged plot by an American woman and a Canadian man who planned to carry out a Valentine's Day massacre in the Halifax area before committing suicide.
Officials say the two were on a mission to go to a public venue in Halifax, Nova Scotia, on Saturday "with a goal of opening fire to kill citizens and then themselves," reports CTV News.
According to the Nova Scotia's Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), a 23-year-old woman from Geneva, Illinois, was arrested at Halifax Stanfield International Airport early Friday. The other suspect, a 19-year-old man from Timberlea, Nova Scotia, was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in his home. Apparently, he committed suicide after police were tipped off about the plot and surrounded his home around 1:20 a.m. local time on Friday.
"The evidence to date and the information is, had they been able to carry out their plan, there was potential for a large number of individual citizens to be put at risk," Nova Scotia RCMP Assistant Commissioner Brian Brennan said during a news conference on Friday.
Officials said authorities received a tip the suspects "had access to firearms, and it was their intention to go to a public venue in the Halifax region on Feb. 14 with the goal of opening fire to kill citizens and then themselves," ABC News reports.
After being taken into custody, the woman confessed to the plot and prescheduling a number of pronouncements to be tweeted after her death.
"I am extremely pleased to report that this threat was averted," Asst. Commissioner Brian Brennan said, reports NBC News.
Two other males, ages 17 and 20, were also arrested, although their roles in the attack are not clear.
"To be clear, all suspects are either dead or in custody," Justice Minister Peter MacKay said on Saturday. "The attack does not appear to have been culturally motivated -- therefore not linked to terrorism." He added the four appear to be simply a "group of murderous misfits that were coming here, or living here, and were planning to wreak havoc and mayhem on our community."
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