In the video, a man in a black balaclava cites a phrase from the Koran, refers to crimes against Muslims and pledges an imminent attack on a Canadian city.
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Within three hours, they believed they had found their man: Aaron Driver, 24, a known terrorist sympathizer who was living in the southwestern Ontario town of Strathroy, under court-imposed conditions.
Driver was known to police as an IS supporter, and was arrested in June past year, but released on a peace bond.
“All involved agencies took immediate action as soon as the information was received”, said Cabana.
The man was killed on Wednesday during a police raid in a small Ontario town, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said, but did not give further details. USA and Canadian authorities do not immediately know who is shown in the video or where he lives.
Authorities said Aaron Driver was on his way to carry out an attack on a unspecified urban target.
Local media reported Driver was shot dead in a police operation in Strathroy on Thursday, after detonating an explosive device in the back of a taxi that wounded himself and the taxi driver.
Police said Driver planned his attack for the next 72 hours during rush hour.
His father, Wayne Driver, was among those left with questions about why authorities did not intervene more decisively earlier.
RCMP Deputy Commissioner Mike Cabana said that early Wednesday they had received information from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, including “a martyr video that had been prepared by an individual who at that time was unknown to us but who was clearly in the final stages of preparing an attack using homemade bombs”.
“Obviously it was a race against time”, Mr Cabana told reporters.
The clip showed a masked man ranting about “enemies of Islam” and warning the only solution would be “spilling of your blood”.
Who is Aaron Driver? He detonates a homemade bomb, injuring the cab driver. In Toronto, transit agencies have confirmed that they were warned of a security threat just before Wednesday’s police operation.
“If he had gotten out of that residence before we got there”, she said, “the scenario would have ended a lot differently”.
He added: “If a country goes to war with another country or another people or another community, I think that they have to be prepared for things like [the Parliament Hill shooting] to happen”. He said such notices are commonly issued after security incidents around the world or if the TTC is advised of threats closer to home.
“This case is an example of the strong cross-border law enforcement cooperation that exists between Canada and the United States”.
Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said he had discussed the incident with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and that the security forces had acted effectively. He had been arrested and released under court supervision after police received complaints of extremist posts on social media.
CBC said the suspect had first come to the attention of anti-terror officials in October 2014 after he tweeted support for IS.
Aaron was arrested previous year amid an investigation developed in Winnipeg. In February, Driver’s lawyer and the prosecutor agreed to a peace bond, which imposes limits on a person’s activities, stating there are “reasonable grounds to fear that he may participate, contribute directly or indirectly in the activity of a terrorist group”.
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