________________________________________
Friendly dog prevents killing spree
Monday, June 28, 2004 Posted: 11:25 AM EDT (1525 GMT)
TORONTO, Ontario (Reuters) -- A man driving a car packed with weapons was intent on killing as many people as possible in a Toronto neighborhood, but changed his plan at the last minute when he encountered a friendly dog, police said Thursday.
The middle-aged man, who police said was mentally disturbed, had planned to carry out the shooting spree on Wednesday to ensure he would be put in jail permanently, Toronto police said.
He had set himself up in an east-end park to load his weapons and then planned to drive around shooting. He later told police that a dog then approached and started playing with him.
The encounter melted the man's heart, and he then went in search of police to give himself up, police said.
"He happens to be a pet lover, and decided that since there was such a nice dog in the area, that people were too nice and he wasn't going to carry out his plan," Detective Nick Ashley told reporters.
Copyright 2004 Reuters.
