WARMINGTON: Niagara Falls neighbourhood still in shock after 'concerning' bomb bust

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NIAGARA FALLS – It’s always better when police get to the bomb before it explodes. 

That was something Niagara Regional Police said they were able to do last week. 

While it’s still unclear just what the plan might have been with up to four pipe bombs allegedly found inside a home, Niagara police may very well have stopped a potential terror attack from taking place with some on-the-ground intelligence-gathering that police said led to finding some improvised explosive devices before they could be used. 

The Toronto Sun has learned that two days before bomb disposal robots were deployed in a quiet residential street in Niagara Falls, neighbours said police attended the same home allegedly in response to a loud and profane war of words between a male and a female. 

“It was quite a scene,” said a neighbour. “There was lots of yelling and a woman was heard telling a man to f— off.” 

That was on Sept. 3. There was an even larger Niagara police presence on Thursday. 

“There were so many police cars on the street,” said neighbour Barry Dzurban. “Those whole areas were blocked off. We are not used to something like that here. We wondered if we were in danger.” 

Not long after, residents of Beaver Glen Dr. noticed there were two of those robots used to get rid of explosive devices. 

“There is no point in sugar-coating it,” said a neighbour. “It’s very concerning.” 

There was, according to neighbours, more excitement behind the home. 

“The suspect they were looking for bolted and tried to run away,” said Dzurban. “The police caught him and put him in handcuffs, but he put up a hissy fit. He didn’t want to be detained and was pounding the window of the police car later.” 

While police charged Taha Sleiman, 21, with make, possess, care and control of an explosive device and unlawful possession of explosives, they indicated Monday this probe is in the early stages. 

The accused is innocent until proven otherwise. The charges have not been tested in court.

But if the allegations are true, this was some fine police work.

“This remains an active investigation by officers within the 2 District (Niagara Falls/Niagara-on-the-Lake) detective office,” said Niagara police spokesperson Stephanie Sabourin. “The motivation and intention remains under investigation by 2 District detectives.  We are encouraging anyone with information to contact police as this is an active investigation.” 

Police said Sleiman was being held in custody.

People on the street identified the suspect, who on social media says he was a Niagara College student and has previous ties to other parts of Ontario and the United States. 

“That’s him,” said a neighbour, adding he “waved to him and others in the house” but did not know them personally. 

“There were sometimes sketchy people hanging around there.”

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The neighbour said he knows the owner of the house and that all of the residents are renters. 

All of this is just too weird to not look into closer. What the heck is going on here? 

This is a question neighbours are asking after a potential terror attack was allegedly thwarted over the summer and a father and son were arrested in Richmond Hill before being charged with terrorism offences. Plus there was a man in Quebec who was arrested last week on terrorism charges for allegedly plotting to attack Jews in New York City; the murder and attempted murder convictions of three men in the Chicken Land Restaurant shootings in Mississauga and their alleged allegiance to ISIS; and the strange explosion at Edmonton’s City Hall, among other things. 

“We would like to know what this was,” said Dzurban. 

Neighbours are entitled to know. And eventually they will. 

“Due to the ongoing nature of the investigation and privacy restrictions, I am limited in the information that I am able to currently share,” said Sabourin.  

Right now, police said, there is a full investigation underway. 

At this point, this is a local investigation and the federal government and the RCMP have not been brought in. It’s unknown if this might have had something to do with terrorism or if there are other possibilities, but when explosives are allegedly found in a house and detonated it invokes a feeling of terror.

It certainly was terrifying for people on this street. 

“We have never seen anything like this in my 20 years here,” said Dzurban. 

It’s also not lost on him that if not for Niagara police finding these alleged bombs and arresting a suspect, who knows how much worse this could have been? 

Niagara police are no strangers to terror plots, either. In 2013, two suspects were arrested and charged after allegedly plotting to blow up a bridge in the hopes of derailing a passenger train. 

That plot was stopped in time and thanks to a takedown arrest on Thursday, police may have potentially thwarted another incident.