Canada Hunts Gunman Who Shot 3 Mounties

Late Wednesday, a man dressed up in a Rambo-style outfit shot and killed three policemen in Moncton, Canada, a city in the eastern New Brunswick province. The suspected shooter — identified in a police Tweet as 24-year-old Justin Bourque — opened fire on the Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers, injuring two others before getting away. Schools were closed and roads were blocked Thursday, as SWAT teams, soldiers and armed officials from the Canadian Mounted Police force continued to scour the area for the violent gunman, currently still at large.

"Shooter still beleived to be in Pinehurst Subdiv. area of Moncton. Stay locked inside. Avoid area," the RCMP said in a Tweet early Thursday morning.

Just before 7:30 p.m. local time Wednesday, the RCMP responded to a call about a man dressed in green camouflage and wearing an assault rifle in the city of Moncton, home to roughly 70,000 residents. When the police got there, the man opened fire on them: three officers were fatally shot, and another two were sent to hospital with serious injuries. Officials later identified the suspected gunman as a Moncton local, Justin Bourque, who they said was still “armed and dangerous.” Although the gunman's motives remain unknown, reports are looking to Bourque's (unconfirmed) Facebook page, which seems to be filled with pro-gun posts and memes.

The shooting, which of course comes less than two weeks after Elliot Rodger's fatal rampage in Isla Vista, California, quickly made it onto social media, with many using the hashtag #Monctonshooting to send their condolences to the victims' families. One particular video, which was filmed from inside a house as the gunshots were fired outside, went viral late Wednesday.

Although Canada saw a general decrease in homicides between 2012 and 2011 — and none at all in Moncton in 2012 — there were in fact more shootings in 2012 than in the previous year. Across the whole of New Brunswick, there were only six homicides, total, in 2012.