Incident Summary:
08/10/2010: On Tuesday afternoon at 1540, near 71st Street and 82nd Avenue in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, police discovered an improvised explosive device (IED) hidden inside a package in the trunk of a Toyota Yaris vehicle. The car was pulled over because it was identified as a stolen vehicle and the driver and passenger, Elrond Lee Smith and Heath Sliter, were arrested by police during the traffic stop. A second similar IED was also discovered on Smith's body, who was charged among other things with possession of explosives. Both devices were safely neutralized by bomb sappers preventing any casualties or property damage from occurring. No group claimed responsibility and the authorities have not revealed the motive or intended target of the attempted bombing.
Overview
GTD ID:
201008100001
When:
2010-08-10
Country:
Canada
Region:
North America
Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:
Alberta
City:
Edmonton
Location Details:
The vehicle was detained near 71st Street and 82nd Avenue in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; the actual location of the intended target was unknown.
What
Attack Information
Type of Attack () |
Bombing/Explosion |
Successful Attack? () |
No |
Target Information ()
Target Type: Unknown |
Name of Entity |
|
Specific Description |
The target was unknown. |
Nationality of Target |
Canada |
Additional Information
Hostages |
No |
Ransom |
No |
Property Damage |
No |
How
Weapon Information
Type |
Sub-type |
Explosives |
Other Explosive Type |
Weapon Details |
Two improvised explosive devices was used in the attempted bombing attack. |
Additional Information
Suicide Attack? | No |
Part of Multiple Incident? | No |
Criterion 1 () |
Yes |
Criterion 2 () |
Yes |
Criterion 3 () |
Yes |
Doubt Terrorism Proper () |
No |
Additional Information |
Police charged Elrond Smith, 39, with possession of stolen property, possession for the purpose of trafficking, possession of explosives, possession of prohibited firearms, possession of a restricted weapon, possession of explosive device, breach of conditions not to possess ammo/ explosives and driving an uninsured motor vehicle. |
Who
Perpetrator Group Information
Group Name |
Claimed Responsibility |
Unknown |
No |
Perpetrator Statistics
Number of Perpetrators |
2 |
Number of Captured Perpetrators |
2 |
Casualty Information
Total Number of Casualties |
0 Fatalities / 0 Injured |
Total Number of Fatalities |
0 |
Number of U.S. Fatalities |
0 |
Number of Perpetrator Fatalities |
0 |
Total Number of Injured |
0 |
Number of U.S. Injured |
0 |
Number of Perpetrators Injured |
0 |
Sources
Sources
Toronto Star, "Bomb Squad Called After Edmonton Police Stop Car," Toronto Star, August 11, 2010, http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/846417--bomb-squad-called-after-edmonton-police-stop-car. |
CBC News, "Stolen Car Yields Apparent Explosive Devices," http://www.cbc.ca/canada/edmonton/story/2010/08/11/ed-bomb-scare-sherwood-park-freeway.html (August 11, 2010). |
Alyssa Noel, "Two Face Bomb Charges," LexisNexis Academic, Edmonton Sun, August 12, 2010. |
Criteria
Criteria 1
The act must be aimed at attaining a political, economic, religious, or social goal. In terms of economic goals, the exclusive pursuit of profit does not satisfy this criterion. It must involve the pursuit of more profound, systemic economic change.
Criterion 2
There must be evidence of an intention to coerce, intimidate, or convey some other message to a larger audience (or audiences) than the immediate victims. It is the act taken as a totality that is considered, irrespective if every individual involved in carrying out the act was aware of this intention. As long as any of the planners or decision-makers behind the attack intended to coerce, intimidate or publicize, the intentionality criterion is met.
Criterion 3
The action must be outside the context of legitimate warfare activities. That is, the act must be outside the parameters permitted by international humanitarian law (particularly the prohibition against deliberately targeting civilians or non-combatants.
Doubt Terrorism Proper
The existence of a "Yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper?" records reservation, in the eyes of GTD analysts, that the incident in question is truly terrorism. Such uncertainty, however, was not deemed to be sufficient to disqualify the incident from inclusion into the GTD. Furthermore, such a determination of doubt is subsequently coded by GTD analysts as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Alternate Designation
The determination of "yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper" by GTD analysts is coded as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Successful Attack
Success of a terrorist strike is defined according to the tangible effects of the attack. For example, in a typical successful bombing, the bomb detonates and destroys property and/or kills individuals, whereas an unsuccessful bombing is one in which the bomb is discovered and defused or detonates early and kills the perpetrators. Success is not judged in terms of the larger goals of the perpetrators. For example, a bomb that exploded in a building would be counted as a success even if it did not, for example, succeed in bringing the building down or inducing government repression.
Type of Attack
This field captures the general method of attack and often reflects the broad class of tactics used. It consists of the following nine categories:
- Assassination
- Armed Assault
- Unarmed Assault
- Bombing/Explosion
- Hijacking
- Hostage taking (Barricade Incident)
- Hostage taking (Kidnapping)
- Facility / Infrastructure Attack
- Unknown
Target Information
This field captures the general type of target. It consists of the following 22 categories:
- Abortion Related
- Airports & Airlines
- Business
- Government (General)
- Government (Diplomatic)
- Educational Institution
- Food or Water Supply
- Journalists & Media
- Maritime (includes Ports and Maritime facilities)
- Military
- NGO
- Other
- Police
- Private Citizens & Property
- Religious Figures/Institutions
- Telecommunication
- Terrorists
- Tourists
- Transportation (other than aviation)
- Unknown
- Utilities
- Violent Political Parties