This is interesting. I have always thought it would be cool to be a marksman because these are the situations you live for, but I guess you would have to have a strong psyche to deal with the fact you killed a human being, but if you have to do it per your job, at least you are one of the best
http://www.officer.com/article/artic...&siteSection=1
Canadian Police Sniper Ends Hostage Situation With Head Shot
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AP Photo/CP, Derek Oliver
Police and Emergency Task Force officers surround a man holding a woman at gunpoint in front of Toronto's Union Station during morning rush hour in Canada, Wednesday Aug. 25, 2004. A police marksman later shot and killed the man, leaving the hostage shaken but unharmed.
COLIN PERKEL
Associated Press
TORONTO (CP) -- A police marksman shot and killed a man holding a woman passerby at gunpoint in front of busy Union Station at the height of Wednesday's morning rush hour, leaving the hostage shaken but unharmed and the normally bustling area eerily quiet.
The dramatic hostage-taking ended with a bullet to the gunman's head as television cameras clearly captured every moment of the violent takedown and hundreds of horrified office workers looked on in disbelief.
``I was dumbfounded. I didn't believe it. It's what you see on television. It doesn't happen in real life,'' said Susan Cormier, who works in a stockbrokers' office.
The random hostage-taking, which brought traffic in a wide swath of the city's downtown to a standstill, followed an 8 a.m. incident in which a man fired shots in the concourse of the TD Centre highrise.
The man was firing at his estranged wife who was on her way to work, police said.
The shots sent terrified food-court patrons scuttling for cover. One owner of a restaurant even hustled his family and employees into the walk-in freezer.
The estranged wife was not badly hurt, received only a few stitches to the head, and was being kept in hospital for observation, police said.
Minutes after the gunfire was reported to police, an officer spotted the wanted man walking from the scene.
``He confronted the individual and immediately upon doing that, the suspect ran,'' said Police Chief Julian Fantino.
The 45-year-old suspect from the bedroom community of Ajax just east of the city then grabbed a woman on the sidewalk just outside the hectic train station.
``He just grabbed her,'' said a newspaper seller called Dave.
``Everybody else left the area and more police came. Nobody said anything other than police saying, `Drop the gun. Drop the gun.' ''
Heavily armed tactical police officers surrounded the scene and spent about 40 minutes trying to negotiate with the man, who was about six-feet tall, heavy set and well dressed in a sports shirt.
They were unsuccessful.
Concerned the situation would escalate and others could be hurt, the marksman fired a single shot, killing the suspect as hundreds of bewildered office workers frantically made cell-phone calls from the scene.
``I was standing and watching the police officers hiding behind a wall with their guns drawn and then suddenly a big bang,'' said Conrad Zaleski, 52, who works in the area.
``The police officers just got up and started running towards Union Station. All the police drew their guns, ambulances started moving.''
The hostage, a woman in her early 20s whose name was not released, walked away from the scene, traumatized but otherwise unscathed.
Police held red sheets around the body to prevent onlookers from seeing the man until he was taken away in an ambulance, at which point fire crews moved in to clean up the area.
``Literally, you could see his brain fly all over the place,'' said one man who watched the sniper's bullet find its mark.
``Like you see (such things) in a movie and you're all cool. It's not cool. It's not cool at all.''
Police cleared out the area, leaving the normally bustling hub almost deserted at a time when thousands of workers make their way to their offices.
Main roads were in gridlock as cars were diverted from the scene, a stone's throw from the skyscrapers that populate Toronto's financial district.
Fantino, who called the outcome ``regrettable and unfortunate,'' said the officer had to take out the armed suspect.
``We had a situation that is very, very volatile, extremely dangerous. There was no choice,'' Fantino said.
``(Police) eliminated a very serious threat to citizens and themselves.''
The provincial Special Investigations Unit, which probes all cases of serious injury or death involving police, was called in to review the killing.
``In this case it's not so much a whodunit, but more, why it happened, how it occurred, and what all the circumstances were surrounding the officer's shooting of this man,'' said SIU spokeswoman Rose Bliss.
The hospital released a statement from the family of the estranged wife.
``The situation is an unfortunate one and we are very disturbed by it,'' the statement read.
``We came close to losing a family member. We are asking that you respect our privacy at this time. Our main concern is for our family member to get the appropriate care.''
The woman was surrounded by a large group of family members Wednesday afternoon and was listed in stable condition, hospital officials said.
The hostage's family issued a statement through the hospital thanking police for their efforts.
The provincial GO bus station at Union Station was closed for several hours but subway traffic was largely unaffected.
Premier Dalton McGuinty expressed relief that the hostage was unharmed but Community Safety Minister Monte Kwinter said emergency procedures around Union Station, the central point for all rail traffic in the region, may need to be reviewed.
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