This PowerPoint is my top line analysis of events as they occured following the shooting at the Ottawa War Memorial on October 22nd. The goal was to look how organizations responded to crisis and how public discourse took shape in the age of Social Media. It scrapes at the surface but includes many key authorities. Analysis focuses on Twitter.

1. Timeline and Top Line Analysis of Events on Twitter
Prepared by Jonathan Bagg

2. Anatomy of a crisis in the age of social
media
 Age of the citizen journalist.
 Information and misinformation spread like
wildfire, even amongst seasoned journalists.
 Events break first on social channels.
 24/7 media starved for details. The need for
breaking news means media speculate freely,
building on rumours (often started via social
media).
 How organizations communicate in a crisis is
part of the immediate public discourse.
 Agencies must be quick and transparent.

3. Image and Non-Social Related Timeline Source: MacLean’s

4. Timeline
 9:52 a.m. A Toyota Corolla with no licence plates pulls up outside the National War
Memorial in Ottawa. The man emerges from behind the memorial and shoots one
of the guards with the rifle. Witnesses report hearing four shots.
 9:53 a.m. First tweet by Peter Henderson, journalist with The Wire.
 9:54 a.m. Shooting breaks out in Centre Block.
 9:54 a.m. First tweets by MPs and others at centre block are posted within
seconds
 9:56 a.m. More shooting breaks out in the Hall of Honour. Some MPs use furniture
to create a makeshift blockade for the door in the Conservative caucus room.
 9:57 a.m. The suspect’s body is seen on the floor outside the Library of Parliament.
His shooter is reportedly House Sergeant-at-Arms Kevin Vickers, a 29-year veteran
of the RCMP.
 9:57 a.m. First images of the body of the perp posted on twitter within
seconds
 9:58 a.m. Images of bystanders attempting to save Nathan Cirillo are posted
by two separate journalists.
 10:03 a.m. Paramedics administer CPR to the soldier who was shot near the War
Memorial.
 10:15 a.m. First comment by a policy agency (Ottawa Police). First tweet by
City advising on traffic issues.
 10:21 a.m. Carl Vallée, Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s press attaché, announces
that the PM has been evacuated safely from Parliament Hill.

5. Timeline Continued
 10:24 a.m. The Rideau Centre, a shopping mall near Parliament Hall, is evacuated
due to reports that shots were fired nearby. (These reports are later confirmed as
false by the Ottawa police.)
 10:30 a.m. The police discover the suspect’s Toyota.
 10:40 a.m. Ottawa’s city hall is placed on lockdown; police order bystanders to
move as far away from Parliament Hill as possible.
 10:49 Jim Watson provides an official comment, shared on twitter.
 10:53 a.m. First RCMP tweet to come from @RCMP_Nat_Div handle which
was the main RCMP handle for this incident.
 11:00 a.m. Reports of second shooting around the Chateau Laurier are still
rampant.
 11:21 a.m. The shooting suspect in Centre Block is confirmed as dead.
 12:42 p.m. Jason Kenney confirms that the soldier shot at the Cenotaph
died.
 12:43 p.m. Ottawa Civic Hospital confirms two other victims besides the fallen
soldier. One victim has been shot; both are in non-life-threatening condition.
 12:52 p.m. Minister of Employment Jason Kenney confirms that the War Memorial
shooting victim, a Canadian Forces reservist from Hamilton, has died.
 1:45 p.m. Ottawa police issue their first press release, confirming shootings at the
War Memorial and on Parliament Hill, but denying that any shooting occurred near
the Rideau Centre. The police confirm that no living suspects are in custody yet
and warn Ottawa residents to “stay away from the downtown area.”
 2:15 p.m. First press conference (joint with Ottawa Police, Military, RCMP and
Mayor)
 10:03 p.m. PM comments on twitter

6. Peter Henderson, a
journalist with The
Wire Report, is the
first to tweet and
post an image.
Within seconds.

7. Requests for
media
interviews from
new outlets
around the
world flow in.

8. Shirlee Engel also provided quick coverage

9. Josh Wingrove, a Globe and Mail reporter, is in
Centre Block when the gunman enters and hears
shooting. He tweets and provides regular updates
and some of the first photos /video from inside
parliament.

10. Other people present become key information
sources – not just journalists

11. Ottawa Citizen and CBC
confirm the shooting on
twitter. First sharing of
information sourced by
Ottawa Police (though it was
not shared on the Ottawa
Police’s own social channels
at the same time).

12. Ottawa Police do a solid
job of providing ongoing
updates, with the first
tweet about 20 minutes
after the occurrence.
They also actively
retweet other authorities
including the RCMP, the
City and transportation
services.

13. The RCMP issues a sole tweet on its
main handle, leaving most of the
communication to the National
Division handle.
It is evident that people are turning to
them for information. Should they
have been more active in sharing
information from other sources? Or at
least confirming who the lead was?
The use of several handles may have
created some confusion. The
@RCMC_Nat_Div handle which was
lead, is slower to provide information
with its first tweet 30 minutes after the
@RCMP handle.
The @RCMC_Nat_Div tweets 18
times in the first 10 hours following
the incident. They did not retweet the
Ottawa police for the first 4 hours
following the initial shooting.

14. The city does a
good job
providing
information on
road closures.
They may have
missed the
opportunity to
provide a
“caring”
statement.

15. Jim Watson
provides an
official comment.
He is among the
first elected
officials to do so.

16. Jason Kenney, Minister of
Employment, Social
Development &
Multiculturalism, confirms
the death of the soldier at
the War Memorial with a
tweet that is widely
reported in mainstream
media.
Was it appropriate for him
to release this
information?

17. Good caring statement by the
PM, though a bit late.
General slow reaction in terms
of official comment by
government, though this is
understandable given the
lockdown.
White House meets with the
press several hours before any
official comment from the
Canadian Government.
Public Safety of Canada does
not tweet until the Prime Minister
does. Only tweets available
seem incongruent with events.

18. Events Reported, Did Not Happen

19. Some media are aware of misinformation spreading
Could the Ottawa Police have
clarified this sooner? Rumours
about the Rideau shooting
started close to 3 hours before
their statement.

20. Some people comment on the lack of information.

21. Better coordination?
The RCMP and Ottawa Police had
similar messages in terms of staying
inside, avoiding the downtown core.
But could better exchange of
information between communications
staff at police agencies have helped
reduce misinformation?

22. Looking back
 More than 100,000 tweets with
#OttawaShooting
 Many, many more with #OttNews,
#OttawaCity and others.
 Most commenters not journos,
though with the event occurring in
Ottawa there was an abundance of
journalists at key scenes.
 Despite this, rumours were often
reported by news outlets. In doing
so, they gained further credibility.
 Some police bodies did a decent job
of being present on social channels,
but could have worked better to limit
speculation. First news conference
came late at 2:15 p.m.
 Opportunity for better dissemination
of information to the public?

23. Challenge for crisis communicators:
Case study questions
 The police did admirably protecting citizens after the
initial incidents and this was not a disaster from a
communications perspective, but what could have
been done better?
 What and how should you communicate when
information is not fully available?
 Would there have been better message control if
some things were communicated/done differently?
 For example, would an earlier press conference
have helped? Even to just say “at this time, that is
speculation, but we are investigating”.

24. Further analysis available on request.