Just 2 Seconds (47 page)

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Authors: Gavin de Becker,Thomas A. Taylor,Jeff Marquart

485.
Date: May 8, 1984
Target: Assembly Member Rene Levesque
Location: Quebec, Canada
Details: A former Canadian army corporal stormed into the National Assembly and killed three government employees. The man was reportedly disgruntled about a number of government policies. On May 7, he rented a car, drove to Quebec City, and took a guided tour of the Parliament Building. He then rented a room in a motel for the night. The next day, at 9:30 a.m., he dropped off an audiotape at a radio station, with instructions to open the envelope after 10:30. They opened it anyway, saw it was a statement of the man's violent intentions, and they called the police. However, by the time police were contacted, the man's plan was already in action. At 9:45 a.m., he entered the Parliament Building through a side door, dressed in combat fatigues and armed with two submachine guns. He shot at a receptionist, then killed a messenger in a corridor. He then shot at people in a smoking room. He then went through the cafeteria and into the Assembly Chamber. Evidence indicates the man intended to assassinate Levesque and other members of the governing party. He ended up killing three government employees and wounded 13 others. No politicians were killed or wounded. The National Assembly's Sergeant-at-Arms persuaded the armed man to come to his office to discuss the matter, and to release the civilians in the Assembly Chamber. The two men spoke for more than four hours, ultimately resulting in the attacker's surrender. The man was convicted of first-degree murder, later reduced to second-degree murder. He was paroled in 1995.
(3-STARS: Protector action during the attack favorably influenced safety/survival.)

486.
Date: October 12, 1984
Target: Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher
Location: Brighton, England
Details: Three weeks before Thatcher was to attend the Tory conference, IRA bomber Patrick Magee checked into room 629 at the Grand Hotel. He spent 24 days tearing down a bathroom wall, loading 100 pounds of gelignite explosive inside the space, rigging a delay timer, and then rebuilding the wall without leaving a trace. The bomb exploded, killing four, wounding 34, and destroying the hotel. Thatcher was in her room five floors below, but was not injured. A sweep with bomb dogs had missed the bomb because it was on a floor above the conference.

487.
Date: 1986
Target: Finance Minister Antonio da Empoli
Location: Rome, Italy
Details: Empoli stepped out of his car to buy a newspaper when four Red Brigade terrorists opened fire. His bodyguard, sitting behind the wheel of the car, returned fire. A female terrorist fell and Empoli's bodyguard shot and killed her. The other three escaped.
(4-STARS: Protector action during the attack entirely prevented injury.)

488.
Date: May 5, 1986
Target: President Ronald Reagan
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Details: Minutes before Reagan's arrival at the Tokyo Summit, five rockets were fired at the meeting site from an apartment two miles away. The Middle Core Faction terrorist group claimed responsibility.

489.
Date: October 2, 1986
Target: Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi
Location: New Delhi, India
Details: A man hidden in a gazebo fired two shots with a pistol at Gandhi as he walked nearby. Bodyguards thought the first shot was a car backfiring and didn't respond. Two people were wounded and the gunman was captured.

490.
Date: March 9, 1987
Target: Deputy Mayor Jean Tiberi
Location: Paris, France
Details: Three men and a woman exchanged gunfire with police outside Tiberi's home. Two Direct Action terrorists were wounded and all were arrested.
(3-STARS: Protector action during the attack favorably influenced safety/survival.)

491.
Date: August 18, 1987
Target: President Junius Jaywardene
Location: Colombo, Sri Lanka
Details: Sinhalese terrorists hurled grenades into the Parliament chamber, killing a legislator, and wounding the Prime Minister, five cabinet ministers, and ten legislators. The President was unharmed. The terrorists escaped in the confusion.

492.
Date: August 8, 1988
Target: Secretary of State George Shultz
Location: La Paz, Bolivia
Details: A dynamite bomb detonated about 15 feet from Shultz's motorcade as it traveled from the airport into the city. Although no injuries resulted, three vehicles sustained damage, including Mrs. Shultz's.

493.
Date: September 20, 1988
Target: Finance Secretary Hans Tietmeyer
Location: Bonn, West Germany
Details: Tietmeyer's car departed his home
en route
to work, when a Red Army Faction gunman fired a shotgun at him. Three pellets struck the car, but he was not injured. The attack occurred only 150 feet from his home.

494.
Date: November 23, 1988
Target: Defense Minister Guerrero Paz
Location: Bogota, Colombia
Details: Paz was departing his office in an armored limousine when a 20-pound explosive device hidden in a lamppost was detonated by remote-control. Three bodyguards were killed and two were wounded, but Paz was not injured.

495.
Date: January 30, 1989
Target: Party Chief George Saade
Location: Beirut, Lebanon
Details: Saade was riding in his armored Alfa Romeo, escorted by three carloads of bodyguards. A car bomb exploded as the motorcade drove by, killing three and wounding 17. Saade's car was damaged and two bodyguards were killed, but Saade was not injured.
(2-STARS: Protective Strategies or Resources at the scene favorably influenced safety/survival.)

496.
Date: March 5, 1989
Target: Prime Minister Noboru Takeshita
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Details: Two rightist rebels attempted to ram a gas-laden Toyota truck into Takeshita's residence, but failed and were arrested.
(2-STARS: Protective Strategies or Resources at the scene favorably influenced safety/survival.)

497.
Date: April 10, 1989
Target: Supreme Court Judge Samouil
Location: Athens, Greece
Details: A bomb exploded outside the front door of Samouil's apartment, but caused no injuries. The May 1 terrorist group claimed credit.

498.
Date: November 7, 1990
Target: Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev
Location: Moscow, Russia
Details: During the Revolution Day parade through Red Square, a man in the crowd fired two shots from a sawed-off shotgun, about 80 yards from Gorbachev. Police dragged the man away. A note in his pocket stated that he had been preparing to kill Gorbachev for two years.
(2-STARS: Protective Strategies or Resources at the scene favorably influenced safety/survival.)

499.
Date: February 7, 1991
Target: Prime Minister John Major
Location: London, England
Details: While meeting with his war cabinet at 10 Downing Street, an IRA van pulled up outside and fired three mortar shells, wounding four people and causing damage.

500.
Date: February 27, 1991
Target: President Alfredo Cristiani
Location: San Salvador, El Salvador
Details: Leftist rebels fired several 81mm mortars into the presidential compound, causing damage but no injuries.

501.
Date: March 28, 1991
Target: Former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi
Location: New Delhi, India
Details: About 2,000 angry people stopped Gandhi's car and tried to drag out his son, Rahul. Gandhi's supporters pushed back the crowd and he left the area immediately. It was not immediately clear who the attackers were, but some shouted slogans praising the Janata Dal Party of former Prime Minister V.P. Singh.

502.
Date: April 27, 1991
Target: President V. B. de Chamorro
Location: Managua, Nicaragua
Details: Chamorro was attending a wedding ceremony at the Inter-Continental Hotel when two men with AK-47s drove past in a pickup truck and opened fire. Two were wounded, but Chamorro was unhurt.

503.
Date: August 9, 1991
Target: President F. W. de Klerk
Location: Ventersdorp, South Africa
Details: As de Klerk was delivering a speech, hundreds of heavily armed militants tried to storm the building. Police opened fire, killing two and wounding 54. De Klerk was not injured.
(3-STARS: Protector action during the attack favorably influenced safety/survival.)

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