Compiled by Dannielle Konz
Spain
In Catalonia on Sunday, Oct. 1, almost 900 people were hurt as authorities attempted to stop a controversial independence referendum from going forward. Voters showed overwhelming support for a secession from Spain, but Spain’s top court banned the vote. Officers from the national police and Civil Guard confiscated ballot papers and boxes at several polling stations. However, more than 2.2 million people were reported to have voted and just under 90% were in favor of independence. Spain’s justice minister has warned that any declaration of independence could lead to Article 155 of the constitution being put into effect, which says that the national government can intervene in the autonomous region.
Syria
Several policemen and civilians have been killed in a suicide bomb attack in Damascus on Monday, Oct. 2. Two assailants entered a police station in the central Midan district. One blew himself up in the main entrance while another detonated the explosives after being shot by officers on the first floor. No immediate claim has been made for the bombings, which was the first of an attack like this in Damascus since July.
France
A man stabbed two women to death in a train station in Marseille on Sunday, Oct. 1. The attacker stabbed one woman numerous times with a 20-centimeter knife, fled, then returned to kill the second woman. The man, known to be on hard drugs at the time of the attack, was shot dead by police at the scene. The attacker was later found to have seven registered identities used between 2005 and 2017. This incident is currently being treated as a terror attack, and the assailant is being investigated for connections to established terrorist organizations.
Canada
A suspect has been arrested in a possible act of terrorism on Saturday, Sept. 30, in Edmonton, Canada. A man driving a car with an ISIS flag on the dashboard rammed into a police barricade where an officer was directing traffic outside a football game Saturday evening. The driver sent the officer flying, then exited the vehicle and stabbed the officer several times. The officer’s injuries were, however, non-life-threatening. The suspect then left the scene on foot and was later pulled over in a U-Haul at a checkpoint leading out of the city. After being asked to see his license, the suspect fled the checkpoint in the vehicle, pursued by police, and deliberately hit four pedestrians in a crosswalk. During the chase, the suspect’s vehicle flipped and officers were able to arrest him.
