Shootout in downtown Vancouver injures police officer.

Photos from witnesses suggest Paul Dragan ran across the street from his bike shop to grab a coffee at the Starbucks Tuesday morning. Moments later, the 52-year-old owner of the Reckless Bike Stores chain was lying sprawled on his back in front of the coffee shop with a bullet wound in his abdomen, blood pooling on the sidewalk as stunned bystanders attempted to revive him. Witnesses struggled to comprehend what unfolded before their eyes after a gunman fired anywhere from three to five shots outside the coffee shop. The shooter was then seen fleeing on a bike along the city’s seawall to Science World, chased by police as passersby scattered. On the grounds of the popular museum routinely crowded with preschoolers, the suspect opened fire on police, injuring one officer with flying glass when a bullet hit her cruiser, before he was brought down. The suspected shooter and Mr. Dragan were sent to hospital for surgery.

Constable Montague said the officer’s injuries are minor, though he added she’s “very shaken up.” Stunned employees at the Kitsilano location of the Reckless Bike Stores declined to comment but confirmed Mr. Dragan was in the hospital with his wife by his side.

Mr. Dragan’s business partners describe him as a passionate cycling advocate who is well-liked and has great business sense. Jack Becker, who co-founded a small cycling consulting firm along with Mr. Dragan, said the cyclist lived in Nova Scotia before moving to Europe in the 1970s for several years to be a bicycle racer. Since arriving in Vancouver, Mr. Dragan has sat on various municipal boards and helped to stage a global cycling conference in 2012. He has a son who is 11- or 12-years-old, said Mr. Becker.

“He was a good person to talk to to get advice,” said Mr. Becker. “I always found him easy to work with.” Annette O’Shea, executive director of the Yaletown Business Improvement Association, has known Mr. Dragan for about eight years through his work as a member of the BIA’s tourism strategy committee. “He is certainly popular in the neighbourhood,” said Ms. O’Shea. “Everyone knows who he is. He’s always coming up with great ideas about how we can make this place better.”

Adam Hunter was at home in a high-rise near the Davie Street Starbucks when he heard what sounded like an explosion shortly after 11 a.m. Tuesday. “I didn’t know it was a gun,” he said. “It was so loud. I was expecting it to be a gas explosion.” Mr. Hunter said he looked out the window and saw a man who looked like a police officer leaning across a blue car parked in front of the shop. Both of his arms were stretched over the car and he was holding a black handgun. Mr. Hunter saw the man fire one shot before he went around the back of the car and out of Mr. Hunter’s line of sight. Nigel Horsley, who lives on the sixth floor above the Starbucks, ran downstairs after hearing four shots. When he emerged, he saw a man he identified as Mr. Dragan lying unmoving on the ground, his skin pale and grey. He seemed to be unconscious, said Mr. Horsley.

Paramedics arrived and began treating the victim.

“They were doing CPR on him so hard I could see his stomach bumping up from the compressions,” said Mr. Hunter. Amber Bouchard came off the SkyTrain at the station across the street from Science World when she saw 10 to 20 armed officers advancing in a line toward the domed facility with their guns drawn.

Melissa Canute said she was walking along the seawall near Science World and the Olympic Village when she heard gunfire in three bursts. She said she didn’t see the man go down, but she watched as stretchers arrived to take people away. The area around Science World and the Main St. SkyTrain station was quickly cordoned off and the nearby Creekside Community Centre was put on lockdown. Children hanging out the windows from a departing school bus yelled to a reporter that they were from Chilliwack and had been locked down in the museum. There have been a recent series of shootings in the Vancouver area, raising questions about violence in Canada’s third largest city. Over the past weekend, two men were shot – one fatally. In one incident, 28-year-old Mila Deakin, the daughter of the former TV series Real Housewives of Vancouver star Jody Claman, was shot in the shoulder. Despite recent violent incidents, Constable Montague said “it was a bit of a leap” to say that violent crime is on the rise in Vancouver. “It is unfortunate that we’ve had a large number of shootings in a short period of time, but I really don’t think there’s a need for the public to really be overly concerned at this point because of these few unfortunate incidents.” Because police discharged firearms, the Independent Investigations Office of B.C is looklng into whether the actions of officers were justified in the case.

Ex-Vision TV head suing Moses Znaimer's ZoomerMedia

TV head suing Moses Znaimer's ZoomerMedia, the mini-media empire of Toronto television entrepreneur Moses Znaimer, is facing a lawsuit from the former chief executive officer of its religious specialty channel, Vision TV, who is demanding more than $900,000 in severance and damages for “mental and emotional distress.”

Bill Roberts, now 61, had been at the helm of Vision for a decade when ZoomerMedia bought it in 2010 for $25-million from the charity that owned it. He says in court documents that after initially being asked to stay on with a salary of about $250,000 a year, the two sides couldn’t agree on new terms and he was terminated in 2012.

But when he was let go, he alleges, ZoomerMedia still owed him two years’ pay in severance and a paid six-month sabbatical – provisions he says the company agreed to when it took over his contract at Vision.

Mr. Roberts, an industry veteran who previously served as managing director of TV Ontario, also alleges that after he was told he was being terminated by ZoomerMedia in March, 2012, he had to stay on during a “working notice” period until October. But during this period, he alleges, he was required to provide a “weekly written report” on his activities, assigned an office away from other staff and excluded from aspects of the television operation.

In an interview, Mr. Roberts was reluctant to go into further detail, but said he found the experience “startling” after his career in broadcasting, and highly stressful. “I felt like I was being left to twist in the wind.” In his statement of claim, filed in 2012, Mr. Roberts is asking for $490,000 in severance, $150,000 in lieu of the sabbatical, $100,000 in “bad faith damages,” $100,000 in “aggravated damages” and $100,000 for “the intentional infliction of mental distress or punitive damages.”

Around August, 2011, Mr. Roberts says he met with Mr. Znaimer to discuss the terms of extending his employment past his contract’s October 2011 expiry date. In court documents, Mr. Roberts says he had his lawyer draw up a proposal to carry on, but that ZoomerMedia balked at paying for the sabbatical. By January, 2012, Mr. Roberts’ lawyer was threatening to sue. Mr. Roberts alleges that, at a private meeting, Mr. Znaimer urged him not to sue, saying ZoomerMedia “was in the midst of some financial issues which would be adversely impacted.”

The two sides are due in court again in October, when a lawyer for ZoomerMedia is seeking to strike out parts of Mr. Roberts’ statement of claim that refer to settlement talks – talks that ZoomerMedia argues should have been kept confidential. The company is controlled by Mr. Znaimer’s Olympus Management Ltd., which owns 64.3 per cent of the common shares. Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. owns 26.9 per cent, with 9 per cent of shares widely held.

Female Rapper Nicki Minaj Wins Two Trophies at AMAs

A female rapper Nicki Minaj has swept two trophies at the American Music Awards held inside the Nokia Theater Los Angeles in last Sunday. As we know that this female rapper who has the birth name Onika Tanya Maraj is the favorite hip-hop and rapper singer among the people around the world especially Americans. She is actually active in singing since the year of 2004 and has several labels such as Cash Money, Universal Motown, and Young Money. This rapper who is originated from South Jamaica has shown her outstanding quality by getting those trophies at AMAs.

Such American Music Award was attended by many artists. One who dominated the award on such awards is Adele who got 4 awards although she was not in the award show. A rapper who loves the pink color, Nicki Minaj wins two trophies at AMAs as the favorite hip/hop artist and favorite hip-hop album. The fans of such female rapper must be proud on her achievement on such awards actually.

The fact that Nicki Minaj wins atthe American Music Awards has made many artists influenced by her achievement. She has the style that is similar to Lady Gaga that can show her inner strength of character in performing the song she sings. Those achievements in American Music Awards only become the booster for her further career.