The suspect is said to have died in a confrontation with police.
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Strathroy is a town of about 21,000 inhabitants in the heart of Ontario’s farmland. Police keep watch around a house in Strathroy, Ontario, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2016.
“Canadians can be confident that whenever credible information is obtained about a potential terrorist threat, the RCMP, CSIS (security intelligence service) and other police and security agencies take the appropriate steps to ensure the safety of this country and its citizens”, Goodale said in a statement.
He said they identified Aaron Driver as the individual in the video. The FBI provided a screen shot and later a video of the masked suspect threatening a terror attack.
There was no indication that Driver had any accomplices in his plans, police said.
The incident “ended rather tragically, but could have [had] a completely different ending with significantly greater loss of life”, RCMP Deputy Commissioner Mike Cabana said. Among the evidence was a “martyrdom video” that allowed RCMP to identify him by 11am and go to his home in Strathroy around 4.30pm, CBC reported.
He had just gotten into the back seat of a taxi and when police approached, Driver detonated an explosive device in the back seat of the cab.
When Driver was released later that month, he was ordered to comply with 18 different conditions, including wearing a Global Positioning System tracking device.
Aaron Driver was a troubled child who converted to Islam in his teens some time before his support for Islamic State attracted the attention of Canadian police.
When the RCMP recently received information from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, including “a video of a man in the final stages of an explosives attack”, they reached out to law enforcement partners across the country and identified the man in the video as Driver.
He had been under the spotlight for at least a year, as authorities believed he was a threat because he could help terror groups. But Driver, who was living with his sister, was not under surveillance at the time of the interview.
Police confronted Driver at a family home in southwestern Ontario on Wednesday as he left the house and got into a taxi. But I think because of the pressure from civil liberties, and organizations like that, the RCMP backed off.
Canadian transit agencies were notified of the potential threat and were told to be aware of concerning situations after American officials warned of the possibility of an attack. He had also spoken out to encourage attacks against the Canadian police and military. Regional transit lines also were advised of a security threat.
“How quickly this was all established is actually a testament to the level of collaboration that exists between law enforcement agencies”. He said he was responding to a call for violence and “we are thirsty for blood”.
Driver was known to police as an IS supporter, and was arrested in June previous year, but released on a peace bond.
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He was first arrested in Winnipeg in June 2015 after reports say he posted messages supporting the shooting at Parliament Hill in October 2014 by Michael Zehaf-Bibeau. He was arrested and placed on a terrorism peace bond last summer over fears he would participate in terror-related activities.
