A soldier was killed during a shooting at Canada’s National War Memorial on Wednesday morning, which was followed quickly by additional gunfire inside the nearby Parliament, according to police.
A gunman has also been killed, Ottawa police said. And there are still concerns about possible additional shooters, as police continue to scour the area without anyone in custody, authorities said.
“This is an ongoing operation,” Charles Bordeleau, Ottawa’s police chief, said during a news conference Wednesday afternoon.
The gunman has been tentatively identified as Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, a 32-year-old man from Montreal, according to two U.S. law enforcement officials. The FBI was working with Canadian authorities Wednesday to determine if this was an act of terrorism.
Zehef-Bibeau was recently designated a “high-risk traveler” by the government and had his passport seized, the Globe and Mail reported.
Bordeleau would not say if police believe there are other shooters involved, instead saying that they are continuing to methodically search Parliament Hill.
The soldier killed Wednesday has been identified by the Globe and Mail and other Canadian media outlets as Cpl. Nathan Cirillo.
After opening fire at the memorial, Zehaf-Bibeau moved into the Parliament building and continued firing shots, police say. Members of Parliament reported hearing dozens of shots inside the building before the gunman was stopped.
From Hit-and-Run That Killed Canadian Soldier Is Called Terrorist Attack, New York Times:
A hit-and-run car crash that killed one soldier and injured another this week was a terrorist attack, Canadian politicians, police and military commanders all suggested Tuesday, saying it had resulted from another Canadian’s turn to radical Islam.
But little had emerged about why the man driving the car, Martin Rouleau-Couture, became radicalized last year or ran over the two soldiers at a strip mall in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, on Monday.
The attack, which ended with the police fatally shooting Mr. Rouleau, as he was known, came at a time when Prime Minister Stephen Harper, like most of his Western counterparts, has been vigorously denouncing the Islamic State movement and warning of possible domestic terrorist attacks. Mr. Harper’s government has indicated that it is about to introduce new antiterrorism legislation, a move that troubles some civil liberties lawyers.
But the death of Patrice Vincent, 53, a warrant officer, and the wounding of an unidentified soldier underscored the difficulty the police and intelligence agencies face when dealing with radicalized citizens.
See also this. Jihadists have been threatening Canada for joining the United States in the coalition against ISIL.
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