See also
- Brian Douglas Wells, victim of extortion; robbed a bank and also killed by an explosive device connected to his neck outside
| 1973 Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce bank robbery | |
|---|---|
| Location | Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Kenora, Ontario, Canada |
| Coordinates | 49°46′02″N94°29′24″W / 49.7673°N 94.4901°W |
| Date | May 10, 1973 |
| Target | Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce |
Attack type | Robbery, hostage crisis |
| Weapons | Rifle, pistol, homemade bomb |
| Deaths | 1 (the bomber) |
| Injured | 1 |
| Victim | Don Millard (RCMP officer) |
| Perpetrators | Unidentified man (alias Paul Higgins) |
| Motive | Robbery |
The 1973 Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce bank robbery occurred in Kenora, Ontario, Canada, on May 10, 1973. A robber entered the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce with firearms, a bomb, and bags to hold money. Upon leaving the bank, accompanied by an undercover police officer, he was shot by a police sniper and the bomb detonated. The robber was killed and the officer injured. The robber has never been identified. [1]
On May 10, 1973, a man wearing a black balaclava mask entered the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce in Kenora armed with a rifle, a pistol and a homemade bomb consisting of six sticks of dynamite. He held a dead man's switch in his teeth to detonate the bomb. He demanded his shoulder bag and three duffel bags be filled with money. A police officer, constable Don Millard, volunteered to pose as a getaway truck driver. As the pair carried the bags outside, a police sniper shot the robber, triggering the bomb and killing the bomber. Constable Millard was injured but partially shielded from the blast by the large duffel bag of money he was carrying, and went on to a career as a firefighter. The street was showered with over $100,000 of cash, virtually all of which was returned. [2] [3] [4]
The bomber's wallet was recovered containing a pair of handcuff keys, 176 dollars, and a receipt from the Kenricia Hotel. He had checked into the hotel under the name Paul Higgins with a false address on April 23, and apparently took a bus to Winnipeg two days later. He left a steamer trunk – which also bore the name "P. Higgins" – stored at the hotel while he was gone. He checked back in on May 5. [5]
The perpetrator wore a mask during the robbery and his features were destroyed in the explosion. Nineteen-year-old Joe Ralko, who wrote a book based on the incident, had seen the man in town in the days beforehand and described him as being in his 40s, with brown hair and a reddish-coloured beard. [6] [7] An initial suspect was ruled out when DNA samples from his brother did not match those taken from the crime scene, and that suspect was later found to be alive and well in France. [6]
Joe Ralko's book, The Devil's Gap: The Untold Story of Canada's First Suicide Bomber, was released in 2017. [8]
The unidentified man is buried in an unmarked grave in Kenora Cemetery. [3]
The CTV News documentary show W5 profiled the Kenora bank robbery in 1983 and 2023.
Note: This compilation includes only those attacks that resulted in casualties. Attacks which did not kill or wound are not included.
Kenora, previously named Rat Portage, is a city situated on the Lake of the Woods in Ontario, Canada, close to the Manitoba boundary, and about 210 km (130 mi) east of Winnipeg by road. It is the seat of Kenora District.
Black Widow or Shahidka, is a term for Islamist Chechen female suicide bombers, willing to be a manifestation of violent jihad. They became known at the Moscow theater hostage crisis of October 2002. The commander Shamil Basayev referred to the shahidkas as a part of force of his suicide bombers called the Riyad-us Saliheen Brigade of Martyrs. Basayev also stated that he himself trained at least fifty of the Black Widows. The female suicide bombers have carried out over 65% of the 23 terrorist attacks linked to the Chechen movement since 2000. The Black Widows are associated with terrorist attacks in Chechnya between 1999 and 2005.
The Locked Room is a mystery novel by Swedish writers Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö, published in 1972. It is part of their detective series revolving around Martin Beck and his team.
On August 28, 2003, pizza delivery man Brian Douglas Wells robbed a PNC Bank near his hometown of Erie, Pennsylvania, United States. Upon being apprehended by police, Wells died when an explosive collar locked to his neck detonated. The FBI investigation into his death uncovered a complex plot described as "one of the most complicated and bizarre crimes in the annals of the FBI".
The 2005 Amman bombings were a series of coordinated suicide bomb attacks on three hotel lobbies in Amman, Jordan, on 9 November 2005. The explosions at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, the Radisson SAS Hotel, and the Days Inn started at around 20:50 local time at the Grand Hyatt. The three hotels are frequented by foreign diplomats. The bomb at the Radisson SAS exploded in the Philadelphia Ballroom, where a Palestinian wedding hosting hundreds of guests was taking place. The attacks killed 57 people and injured 115 others.
The 2007 Casablanca bombings refer to a series of suicide bombings in March and April 2007 in Casablanca, Morocco.
Albert Frederick Nussbaum was a notorious 1960s-era bank robber and FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitive. Nussbaum was born in Buffalo, New York. In the late 1950s, Nussbaum was arrested for possessing a Thompson Submachine gun and transporting unregistered weapons across state lines.
Takers is a 2010 American heist action thriller film directed by John Luessenhop from a story and screenplay written by Luessenhop, Gabriel Casseus, Peter Allen, and Avery Duff. It features Matt Dillon, Paul Walker, Idris Elba, Jay Hernandez, Michael Ealy, T.I., Chris Brown, Hayden Christensen, and Zoe Saldana in an ensemble cast. The film was released on August 27, 2010.
A series of bombings took place in Jakarta, Indonesia, on 17 July 2009. At around 07:47 until 07:57 WIB, the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton Hotels in Setiabudi, South Jakarta, were hit by two suicide bombers. The attacks were carried out five minutes apart. Seven people were killed, including three Australians, two Dutches, an Indonesian and a New Zealander. More than 50 people were injured in the blasts. Both blasts were caused by suicide bombers, who checked into the hotels as paying guests several days earlier. The twin suicide bombings came four years after the previous serious terrorist attack in Indonesia.
Ma and Pa Kettle Go to Town is a 1950 American comedy film directed by Charles Lamont. It is the second installment of Universal-International's Ma and Pa Kettle series starring Marjorie Main and Percy Kilbride.
This is a list of terrorist incidents in Iraq during 2010. Major attacks include a 1 February attack killing 54 in Baghdad, and a 10 May attack killed 45 at a fabrics factory in Hillah.
Joni Hendrawan, also known as Idris, is an Indonesian, who after escaping conviction for his role in the 2002 Bali bombings, was convicted for the 2003 Marriott Hotel bombing.
Events in the year 2002 in Israel.
The Netanya Market bombing was a suicide bombing which occurred on 19 May 2002 at the entrance to the main fruit and vegetable open-air market in Netanya, Israel. The site of the attack was chosen in order to cause maximum number of casualties. Three people were killed in the attack, and 56–59 were injured.
A pressure cooker bomb is an improvised explosive device (IED) created by inserting explosive material into a pressure cooker and attaching a blasting cap into the cover of the cooker.
The Havelock Bank Robbery was a 1961 armed robbery of bank bonds plus $230,000 cash from the Toronto-Dominion Bank branch in Havelock, Ontario.
The Virginiatown Bank Robbery was a 1972 robbery of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce in Virginiatown, Ontario, Canada.
On February 10, 1997, the Seafirst Bank branch of Lakewood, Washington, was robbed of $4,461,681 in cash by Billy Kirkpatrick and Ray Bowman, also known as the Trenchcoat Robbers. An investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service caught the two, and they were both sent to 15 years in prison in 1999. It is one of the largest robberies in U.S. history.
Ralko, Joe: The Devil's Gap: The Untold Story of Canada's First Suicide Bomber ; 2017