Deadly blast in doughnut shop not a terrorist job: police

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TORONTO, ONTARIO

Deadly blast in doughnut shop not a terrorist job: police
Last Updated Mon, 03 Apr 2006 08:14:22 EDT
CBC News

Police have ruled out terrorism as the cause of an explosion at a Tim Hortons doughnut shop that killed one man in a trendy downtown area of Toronto on Sunday.

The victim was likely an arsonist or attempting suicide, Staff Sgt. Don Cole of Toronto police told reporters hours after the explosion.

"He's not a strap-on al-Qaeda bomber guy," Cole said. "It sounds to me like a guy who either wanted to do a torch job or commit suicide."

Police said the man apparently carried a can of gasoline into a washroom stall about 1 p.m. local time at the eatery in the city's Yorkville area, and set off a flash fire that killed him.

The victim was an unidentified male who was pronounced dead at the scene with severe burns to his body. Nobody else was injured.

Tim Hortons spokesman Nick Javor later confirmed the victim was not an employee. In a statement, he praised the quick response of the staff, and said they would be offered appropriate support.

Explosion triggered flash fire: police

Police Chief Bill Blair earlier described the incident as a flash fire rather than a bombing. Two blocks in the downtown area were cordoned off as police investigated.

"It appears that there has been a very hot and intense fire in an enclosed area within the washroom," Blair said. But he declined to speculate on the cause of the fire.

"Until we determine precisely what happened in that cubicle and what caused those flames that took that man's life, I really can't speculate," he said.

Police could not confirm reports the man was seen entering the washroom with wires or possibly explosives strapped to his body.

The ceiling fell down on the victim, bringing down wires and batteries from an air-freshening device that might have contributed to suspicions of a bomb, Cole said.

Suspicious bag not a threat
After the incident, a police robot was used to remove a duffel bag from the doughnut shop, which is on Yonge Street just north of the intersection with Bloor Street.

Explosives experts detonated the bag with a loud bang. It contained school supplies.

Police also evacuated a second Tim Hortons a few kilometres north and detonated a suspicious package, which ended up being a clock in a shopping bag.

Eyewitness Jenny Phillips told Reuters that she heard bangs like pops from a firecracker and a scream "that will haunt me forever" as she left the washroom area.

She smelled burnt powder and saw a "wall of flames" inside the men's washroom before staff herded the two dozen customers outside.

"I thought the roof was caving in," she said. "People were screaming."

A police robot removes a suspicious parcel from the shop in the aftermath of the explosion.

Blast rattles shop workers

Employees who appeared shaken were escorted from the scene, and some attempted to shield their faces from the throng of television cameras.

They refused to answer questions, but Tim Hortons district manager Amin Islam said they were doing well. "I'm just making sure they're going home safely," he said.

Daryl Fuglerud, a spokesman with Toronto's fire department, told reporters the man who died had burns to his body.

"It doesn't appear that there was much of a fire at all," Fuglerud said. "There was a very small amount of smoke upon our arrival."

Fuglerud said the investigation was turned over to police because it was a "possible criminal" case.

SOURCE: http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national ... 60402.html

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Man died of self-inflicted injuries in Tim Hortons explosion: police
Last Updated Tue, 04 Apr 2006 19:15:58 EDT
CBC News

The unnamed man who perished in the washroom of a Tim Hortons restaurant in downtown Toronto on Sunday died by his own hand, police say.

In a terse statement Tuesday, police said investigators have determined that the flash fire that killed him was not accidental, and that the injuries that led to his death were self-inflicted.

Police are still trying to find out who the mystery person was.

The incident happened at about 1 p.m. local time Sunday afternoon when patrons at a Tim Hortons restaurant heard what they said was a loud explosion.

Some witnesses said they saw a man go into the washroom with a bomb strapped around his waist and wires hanging out of his pocket. But those reports were quickly discounted, as was speculation that the man was a terrorist bomber.

The police investigated and found the man had carried a can of gasoline into a washroom stall a short time before the explosion and flash fire that killed him.

SOURCE: http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national ... 60404.html

[coriolis]

The donuts made him do it.