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The Goderich Signal-Star, 1979-05-24, Page 1Makeshift rope used for escape Employees of the Canada Manpower Centre were visibly, shaken as they spoke of the in- cident in which they were faced with a gun wielding man in the office Wednesday. The gunman entered the Manpower office on East Street shortly after 1 p.m. and was reported to have fired two shots. Employees were quickly herded into an adjoining room after the initial screams and shock had subsided. There they barricaded the door but were not about to remain isolated on the second floor of the Federal building. The seven employees quickly fashioned a rope from the curtains in the room and climbed Turn to paiP 14 • J the1 IGNAL -814 1 132 YEAR -21 THURSDAY, MAY 24, 1979 35 CENTS PER COPY A Goderich man will appear in Provincial Court today facing charges of attempted murder and dangerous use of a firearm following a dramatic 12 hour ordeal in the Canada Manpower Office in the Federal Building on East Street,Wednesday. Timothy L. Sheardown, 27, of 40.1w:ssex Street, was charged with attempted murder and dangerous use. of a firearm after surrendering to police about 1 a.m. Thursday mor- ning,ending almost eight hours of continuous • negotiations. Goderich Police Chief P.D. King who co - orchestrated the more than 20 police officers on the scene, said Sheardown threw his shotgun through a doorway and surrendered 40 mem- bers of the Tactical and Rescue Unit (TRU) sortly after 1 a.rn, • The incident began minutes before 1 p.m. Wednesday when the accused was •reported to have fired a couple of, shots at a passing motorist on Cambria Road. From there wit- nesses reported that he walked down East Street to the- Federal. Building and proceeded to the Canada Manpower Office on the second floor. In the Manpower Office the accused was said to have fired two shots and herded the em- ployees into a room. Chief Ring said his department recieved call concerning the incident and were on the scene in minutes and King stated that one of his of- uKinley wins BY JEFF SEDDON Any . doubts about Liberal inroads into Progressive Conservative incumbent Bob McKinley's stranglehold on the riding of Huron - Bruce were removed Tuesday night. McKinley was returned to Ottawa by an almost two to one majority in the federal election swamping Liberal hopeful Graeme Craig by about 9,000 votes. New Democratic Party candidate Moira Couper was never in the race here but her party increased its support in the riding by 25 per- cent. Couper •called the NDP support "super" and said she was "glad some people voted for me". The race lin Huron -Bruce was over almost as soon. as the polls closed in the riding. The first poll to report gave McKinley a 10 vote edge on Craig and that lead ballooned as more polls were counted. The PC incumbent was declared elected by national news agencies about 10 minutes after the polls closed here. ' McKinley did not let the convincing win go to his head election night telling party faithful at a rally in Goderich that the Liberals had waged one of the best campaigns he has fought in his 14 years as a politician. McKinley, a' Zurich area hatchery 'operator, was jovial at the Goderich rally telling his workers Liberal tactics to chip away at' his Progressive Conservative candidate Bob McKinley received overwhelming support from voters in Huron -Bruce Tuesday night and was returned to Ottawa for the fifth time. McKinley defeated Liberal candidate Graeme Craig by almost two to one and here is congratulated by A t"he Walton area farther, a newcomer to politics. Craig arrived at a PC victory rally in Goderich to shake McKinley's band and hash over the election results in this riding. (photo by Jeff Seddon) ficers, Sargeant George Bacon, was shot at as he attempted to enter the building. The Manpower employes-;. "'after being secluded in a room, bar•r,icaded the door and fashioned a rope from the curtains and escaped to the post office on the first flour. .E'mployees of the Student Manpower Centre,' a separate office on the same fluor, heard shots and screaming, hut were quickly ushered by police down the stairs and inti) the hack roorns of the -post office on the first floor. However, one manpower employee, Bob McDougal, was alrine in the hoard room at the time of the incident uPnct realizing something was happening stayed still. • "I was in the board room and heard the shots • • again support had oackfired. He said redistribution had taken away some Conservative territory in Huron -Bruce and.added some Liberal ground. "They didn't get away with what they tried," He said. "Instead we elected two Conservatives on either side•of us." .. The 50 year old took a shot at attempts by Liberal workers to impress voters here by brining in cabinet ministers to politic. Agriculture., minister Eugene Whelan made a whirlwind tour of the riding and minister of employment and immigration Bud Cullen spent a Sunday afternoon in Clinton helping the Liberal cause. Whelan won. his election but Cullen was ousted by Conservative candidate Bill Cam- pbell. McKinley didn't miss that fact and told his supporters Cullen "should have bloody well stayed at home and taken care of himself". Despite his impressive victory McKinley was non -committal about his political future. Rumours about a possible cabinet seat in a Joe Clark government have been common in the riding during. the campaign and their has been suggestion that the Huron -Bruce incumbent is thinking about leaving politics. • . He said he didn't know,how those rumours.g_ot_. started claiming he plans to keep running campaigns until "I announce that I'm retiring". He added that he couldn't say if he was being 'considered for " a cabinet post in a Clark ,,' government'He has served as agriculture critic, party whip and finance critic for the Conservatives. He said during his campaign that he felt one of the biggest job facing the government was cleaning up problems in the Post Office. He hinted that he would like the challenge of doing that job. McKinley said it was Unclear what would happen to a Consbrvative minority govern- ment. He said he doubted if the Liberals and New Democrats would combine their power to bring about another election, He said the NDP will not force an election untilthey have enough money for another campaign claiming the New Democrats will "sell their souls to save their seats". Graeme Craig, a Walton area breeding technician and farmer, was disappointed with his showing at the polls. Craig looked tired and saddened With his Toss when he arrived at the PC rally to congratulate the winner. He said he expected to do "much better than he did" and that he expected the race in Huron - Bruce to be "close". He said he felt the national trend towards the Conservatives didn't help his campaign here. He said he felt voters' doubts about Clark's ability to lead the country would counter any anti-Trudeau sentiments in the riding quipping that he was "obviously not . right". McKinley felt the anti-Trudeau sentiment earned him 3,000 to 4,000.votes. Craig said he didn't know if he would take another shot at upsetting McKinley here. He said he would have to take a look at the situation when the next election rolls around. Couper said she found the -campaign a "really interesting experience" and that she "might run again in the next election". and knew something was going on,'' McDougal related. "I was scared and stayed just where I was and he didn't'notice I was there." McDougal said he was discovered almost two hours later by the accused and was promptly told to getout of the building. They gunman was alerted to the presence of McDougal by police who made efforts to reach him on the second floor with a ladder. Two ttempts failed but McDougal was ordered from. the building and hastily made his way to the first floor. The gunman made no demands of police but by 2 p.ni. Chief Ring summoned support from the Goderich OPP, the London OPP Tactical and Rescue Unit,. Inspector Rose from Mount Forest. OPP and Inspector Tom Lerman, Toronto, who -was flown in .by -helicopter and acted as negotiator as soon as he arrived at 4 p.m.• There were over 25 police freers surroun- • ding the building and East Street and other radiating streets were blocked to both vehicular and pedestrian traffic. Once Inspector Lerman began negotiations after 4 p.m;, both the Manpower and postal employees were rembved•from the building. The accused reknained alone .on the second floor of the building and negotiations continued until the early evening when two shots were fired from a window towards the Square. At least three people were hit with fragments from the shot that apparently glanced off the roadway. Ron Prouse was sitting on the curb in Court House Park drinking coffee when he was hit by a small fragment in the face. The- shots immediately dispersed the hun- dreds of curious onlookers who crowded near the scene. Chief King said the accused was not making any • demands of the police but at one point Turn to page 14 • • w Goderich police chief Pat King trains his revolver on an open window of the federal building on East Street Wednesday while an Ontario Provincial Police officer attempts to get Manpower employee Bob McDougall out of his Office on the second floor of the building. McDougall went unnoticed by a gunman that entered the building around one O'clock Wednesday and herded all employees out before setting up a 12 hour standoff vulth police from Goderich and Goderich detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police. The attempt to get McDougall out of the building failed but the gunman, when discovering the Manpower emploiyee was still in the building, ordered him to get out. (photo by Jeff Seddon)