He added the information the TTC was given Wednesday was “very general about a credible threat that was being investigated by police but it had no location, it didn’t even say a city as far as I know”.
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The Canadian authorities alleged that Driver espoused support for ISIL on social media, where police said he was also known by the alias Harun Abdurahman.
According to a relative who spoke to CBC, police informed the family that he was shot dead after detonating an explosive device, injuring himself and one other person, whose condition was unclear.
Last year, federal authorities were so suspicious Driver might have ties to a terrorist group that he bounced in and out of jails and courtrooms for months, all without any actual charges ever being laid – and he had no criminal record at the time. The RCMP said there was no indication that Driver, a 24-year-old Muslim convert, had any accomplices and did not specify which city was targeted.
Assistant Commissioner Jennifer Strachan said in a statement that when Driver got in the taxi police “engaged the suspect, there was a detonation inside the taxi, and the suspect subsequently died following a confrontation with the police”.
“It was a race against time”, Cabana said.
Police said he had previously communicated with a British teenager who planned to behead police officers during Australia’s Anzac Day commemorations.
The incident was the first security test for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who was elected last October and who in February fulfilled a campaign pledge to withdraw Canada from the combat mission against Islamic State and to increase its mission training local fighters against the group in northern Iraq. Driver also cited recent attacks in Paris and Brussels.
That investigation started while Driver lived at a Winnipeg address.
In Strathroy, most neighbours say they never saw or knew Driver – although Leo’s Taxi Service did. A senior police official said late Wednesday, Aug. 10, a suspect allegedly planned to use a bomb to carry out a suicide bombi.
The representative, who declined to be identified, said the taxi driver was injured in the incident, but has since recovered. He was the third terrorist to die in a shootout with police since October 2014, when two extremists were killed after attacking Canadian Forces members in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu and Ottawa.
He was under a court order from earlier this year to not associate with any terrorist organization, including the Islamic State group. “You have a heavy debt which has to be paid and you have Muslim blood on your hands, and for this we will have your blood”, he said.
On Thursday, Islamic State media described Driver as its “soldier”.
Analysts immediately began comparing the image in the video to possible suspects in police databases – including those out on terrorist peace bonds, like Driver.
– Driver is released in July 2015 under strict bail conditions requiring him to wear an electronic monitoring bracelet and with a ban on accessing the internet.
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“The reported terror plot that was thwarted yesterday demonstrates that Canadians must not only remain vigilant about the threat of terrorism at home and overseas, but also be a strong contributor to military efforts to fight it worldwide”.
