Political and ideological motives prompted the shooting spree in Canada’s Parliament last week, Canadian authorities said Sunday.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Commissioner Bob Paulson said in a statement on Sunday that the gunman, Michael Zehaf Bibeau, made a video of himself just before the attack on Wednesday, The Canadian Press reported. Zehaf Bibeau gunned down Cpl. Nathan Cirillo–who was guarding the National War Memorial–and was subsequently killed in the attack as he tried to enter the Parliament’s Centre Block.
[quote text_size=”small” author=”–RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson”]
The RCMP has identified persuasive evidence that Michael Zehaf Bibeau’s attack was driven by ideological and political motives. The RCMP is conducting a detailed analysis of the video for evidence.
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The RCMP also said they are still investigating where Zehaf Bibeau got the “old and uncommon” rifle used in the attack, while authorities believe that the knife he had was from his aunt’s property in Quebec, where he had buried it previously, the report said.
Zehaf-Bibeau, 32, is a Muslim convert with a history of criminal activity, Fox News reported.
He was employed in the oil fields of Alberta and had access to a substantial sum of funds, which he used to fund his pre-attack activities, Paulson said.
“The RCMP is confident we will have an authoritative and detailed account of the shooting, including a complete reconstruction of the heroic actions of those involved, in the weeks to come,” said the commissioner.
The attack came two days after a man in an “Islamic State-inspired attack” ran over two soldiers in a parking lot in Quebec, killing one and injuring the other before being killed by the police. The consecutive incursions against Canadian authorities raise fears that the country is now suffering the complications of joining the U.S.-led alliance against Islamic State, which has been expanding its territory in Iraq and Syria.
