Felisa Isakson

ETEC 523
October 25, 2014
On Wednesday, October 22 a gunman shot and killed a soldier at a war memorial in
Ottawa, before police engaged in a gun battle inside the parliament building. This incident
was the second fatal attack on a member of the Canadian armed forces and is believed to
possibly be part of a terrorist attack. Witness indicated the man who shot dead the soldier
guarding the National War Memorial in central Ottawa, went on to attack the parliament
building minutes later. As a result of this incident nearby University of Ottawa was placed
on lockdown, as well as the US embassy. The shootings followed an attack on two soldiers in
Quebec on Monday carried out by a convert to Islam. Two U.S. officials said U.S. agencies
had been advised the dead gunman in Wednesday's shootings was also a Canadian convert
to Islam.
Event:

Source 1: Online News

Agency

Source 2: Online
Newspaper Article

Source 3: Online Video and

News Report

Reuters: Canada's
parliament attacked, soldier
fatally shot nearby

L.A. Times: Canadian soldier

killed, Parliament targeted in
possible terror attack

BBC News: Ottawa shooting:

Soldiers killed and city on
lockdown

Citation

Palmer, R., & Ljunggren, D.

(2014, October 22). Canada's
parliament attacked near
where prime minister was
speaking, Harper safe.
Retrieved October 24, 2014,
from
http://www.reuters.com/ar
ticle/2014/10/22/uscanada-attacks-shootingidUSKCN0IB1PY20141022

ZAVIS, A., MAI-DUC, C.,

SUSMAN, T., & HENNIGAN,
W. (2014, October 22).
Canadian soldier killed,
Parliament targeted in
possible terror attack.
Retrieved October 24, 2014,
from
http://www.latimes.com/w
orld/mexico-americas/la-fgshooting-war-memorialcanadian-parliament20141022story.html#page=1

Ottawa shootings: Soldier

killed and city on lockdown.
(2014, October 22).
Retrieved October 24, 2014,
from
http://www.bbc.com/news/
world-us-canada-29724907

Information Conveyed

This article presents

information of event in three
parts. First is the
information about the

This article presents the

lifting of the lockdown in the
city of Ottawa and how the
suspect was on a

This video report has actual

eyewitness footage of a
cameraman in the
parliament building during

A gunman attacks Canada's

parliament. Gunfire erupts
near where Prime Minister
Stephen Harper was
speaking. A soldier is fatally
shot at a nearby war
memorial. The gunman is
later shot and killed by
police.

Format Impact

gunman shooting and killing

the soldier and then running
toward the Canadian
Parliament, the Second
sequence describes how the
security reacted at the
Parliament building. Finally
the event is summarized
with how the city of Ottawa
reacted with armed police
and how Canada has stricter
gun control laws and mass
shooting are very rare with
the city of Ottawa having a
low murder rate.

government watchlist as the

first pieces of information
about the shooting. The
Canadian prime minister is
quoted as using the words
despicable and terrorist
to describe the attacks. The
Prime minister is quoted as
saying, Let there be no
misunderstanding. We will
not be intimidated. Canada
will never be intimidated, It
further quotes eyewitnesses
to the shooting and how the
thought of a third shooter
lead to a lockdown of
schools and other public
buildings

the shooting event as well as

photos and interview of a
waiter who was an
eyewitness to the shooting
event. It also has an aerial
map view of where the
shooting occurred. Similar to
the other two articles it
further explains the reaction
of the police and public
officials of the city of Ottawa
after the event.

This article seems to be

informative without being
reactionary. Although it is a
very tragic event. The facts
seem to be presented in a
neutral way.

The tone of this article

seems reactionary and
hostile to the shooting event.
There is a sense of revenge
and retaliation in the quotes
given from the prime
minister and how the
lockdown from the shooting
caused a major disruption

Opening with the video of

the cameraman filming the
shooting gives this article a
heightened feeling of anxiety
or fear. The report even
warns the viewers of
hearing the shots fired.
Seeing the photos of those
injured and who possibly
died and the eyewitness
interview of the waiter who
sounds nervous and scared
also increases the emotional
impact of making the
situation seem fearful.