World News
Police identify suspect in Canada shootings─── 06:20 Thu, 23 Oct 2014
Ottawa - The man behind the Ottawa shootings is a Canadian convert to Islam whose passport had been seized by authorities, federal sources say.
While police have not confirmed the man's identity, sources have told Canada's Globe And Mail, Reuters and Associated Press that the main suspect was Michael Zehaf-Bibeau.
Just before 10am on Wednesday local time, a gunman shot and killed Corporal Nathan Cirillo and then opened fire on the country's Parliament buildings.
The Globe and Mail newspaper said he was recently designated a "high-risk traveller" by the Canadian government - meaning it was feared he would travel abroad to commit crimes - and that his passport had been seized.
The Globe and Mail newspaper said he was recently designated a "high-risk traveller" by the Canadian government - meaning it was feared he would travel abroad to commit crimes - and that his passport had been seized.
Zehaf-Bibeau had a history of multiple run-ins with Canadian police in the French-speaking province of Quebec.He had been arrested for drug possession, credit-card fraud and robbery. In 2011, he was also charged with robbery in Vancouver.
According to the Postmedia news agency, Zehaf-Bibeau was born in Quebec but had a history of moving in recent years, including a stop in Vancouver.
Dashcam footage published by CBC, appears to show Zehaf-Bibeau getting into an illegally parked vehicle, with no rear licence plate.
The man in the footage appears to be holding a long, dark object and the time stamp on the video matches when police began receiving emergency phone calls.
CBC said the video had been sent to them by a person who was driving by at the time.
Eyewitnesses said Zehaf-Bibeau was dressed in black and had his face covered by a scarf during the shootings.
Authorities have not yet ruled out the possibility that there are other shooters still on the loose.
On Monday, Martin Couture-Rouleau, a 25-year-old who converted to Islam last year, rammed his car into two soldiers in the Quebec town of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu and was shot dead by police. One of the soldiers later died.
Rouleau was arrested at the airport in July on his way to Turkey and also had his passport confiscated.
He was among 90 people being tracked by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) on suspicion of taking part in militant activities abroad or planning to do so.
Police would not confirm whether Zehaf-Bibeau was on this list.
No group, Islamic or otherwise, claimed responsibility for either the attack in Ottawa or the one near Montreal on Monday.
Fairfax Media with agencies
