The London Free Press newspaper, citing family members, reported that Driver was shot by police after he detonated a device, wounding himself and another person.
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Aaron Driver, the man killed during a Canadian police raid at his home this week as he was allegedly planning an attack, converted to Islam in his teens some time before his support for Islamic State attracted the attention of authorities.
Police went to Driver’s home in the small town of Strathroy, about 225 kilometres south-west of Toronto, after receiving credible information, including a “martyrdom video”, from USA authorities that he planned what could have been a “dreadful” attack, the RCMP said.
Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said he had discussed the incident with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and that the security forces had acted effectively. “In response, we raised our level of vigilance and worked closely with national, provincial and local security and police services on our response”, spokeswoman Anne Marie Aikins said.
Video footage showing Aaron Driver is seen behind Royal Canadian Mounted Police Deputy Commissioner Mike Cabana, left, and Assistant Commissioner Jennifer Strachan in Ottawa on Thursday.
“The RCMP received credible information of a potential terrorist threat”, an RCMP statement said Wednesday evening.
RCMP investigators quickly identified Driver as the man behind the balaclava.
– The RCMP anti-terrorism squad rushes to Strathroy, Ontario to try to intercept the suspect, while issuing a nationwide alert of a “possible terrorist threat”.
Notably, security was beefed up along Toronto’s network of subways, bus lines and street cars used by 1.8 million people a day.
Neighbors said they heard explosions and gunshots during the operation that involved SWAT teams and a bomb squad, the website reports. Police swooped down on the home just before a taxi suddenly showed up and Driver got in.
Driver died after he detonated an explosive device in the backseat of a taxi as police closed in. Canadian police said Driver was not under constant surveillance.
The suspect was identified as Aaron Driver, 24, known to police and a “soldier of the Islamic State,” according to a news source associated with IS.
Goodale said his US counterpart, Loretta Lynch, saluted the quick work of the RCMP. He also announced that Ottawa would create a counter-radicalization office, and later this month start public consultations on proposed security reforms.
The following is a timeline of events leading up to his death.
The reason CBC wanted to interview Driver for 90 minutes is that he was arrested by the RCMP, which confiscated his “custom-made computer, phone, flash drives, and Koran”, because he had been posting blood-curdling holy warrior messages on social media, justifying the terrorist murder of soldiers and police officers.
A man killed in Ontario on Wednesday was the mastermind of an attack on behalf of ISIS.
Police arrested Driver in June 2015 but a court granted him a peace bond, requiring he maintain good behaviour for a certain period. Those restrictions were gradually loosened and were scheduled to expire this month.
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Driver, who was originally from Winnipeg, Manitoba, was under a court order from earlier this year to not associate with any terrorist organization, including ISIS. (They) said we can’t tell you anything other than your auto is here and this happened to your driver.
