Police: Canadian terror attack driven by ideology

Extremist ideology and politics drove Michael Zehaf-Bibeau to gun down a Canadian soldier standing guard at the country's war memorial and attempt a rampage at the Canadian parliament, police said Sunday.

Zehaf-Bibeau, 32, a recent Muslim convert, prepared a video of himself just before the terrorist attack, Royal Canadian Mounted Police Commissioner Bob Paulson said in a statement. His mother told police he had applied for a passport and intended to travel to Syria.

'The RCMP has identified persuasive evidence that Michael Zehaf-Bibeau's attack was driven by ideological and political motives,' Paulson said.

Zehaf-Bibeau carried a 30-30 Winchester shotgun and a knife during Wednesday's attack. Investigators belief he retrieved the knife from his aunt's property in Mont Tremblant, where he had lived years ago, Paulson said. The gun, which police described as 'old and uncommon,' also may have been hidden on the property, Paulson said.

Zehaf-Bibeau's long criminal record for a series of crimes including drug possession, robbery and assault, barred him from owning or possessing a gun.

Although living at a homeless shelter in the days before the attack, Paulson said Zehaf-Bibeau had saved his money from his work in Alberta's oil fields. A few days before the attack, police said Zehaf-Bibeau purchased a car.

'He had access to a considerable amount of funds. We are investigating all of his disbursements in the period leading up to the attack,' Paulson said.

Police did not have Zehaf-Bibeau on Canada's watch list of 'high-risk' travelers, but the background investigation for his passport application had raised questions, Paulson has said.

Zehaf-Bibeau grew up in Montreal with his Canadian mother, Susan Bibeau, an immigration official, and a Libyan father. His parents divorced in 1999. Bibeau told the Associated Press that she hadn't seen her son in five years, until she met him for lunch earlier this month.

Police are still tracing Zehaf-Bibeau's movements before the Wednesday attack, but they say he arrived in Ottawa on Oct. 2 to deal with his passport issues.

On Wednesday, police said Zehaf-Bibeau drove his newly purchased car to the war memorial in downtown Ottawa around 9:50 a.m. He approached the cenotaph from behind at an angle where the unarmed ceremonial guards couldn't see him. He fired twice, killing Reservist Nathan Cirillo. He fired a third shot at the second guard, but missed.

He again got in the car, drove a few blocks north to Parliament Hill and parked near the entrance. Video shows Zehaf-Bibeau running into the House of Commons where he exchanged fire with security officers and RCMP officers, just feet away from rooms in which government leaders were meeting. At least one bullet pierced an oak door and lodged in the soundproof lining of one of the meeting rooms.

People gather around the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the National War Memorial in Ottawa, Canada. Canadians are mourning the loss of Cpl. Nathan Cirillo, the army reservist who was shot dead as he stood guard before the tomb.(Photo: Justin Tang, AP)

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