Workers from the St Eugene Catholic Elementary School, where Cirillo’s son is enrolled, pay respects at a makeshift memorial in his honour, outside the family home in Hamilton.
Reuters/Ottawa
Canada’s capital faced a third day of heightened security yesterday as police searched for any clues that the man who shot and killed a soldier and charged into the parliament building had help in plotting his attack.
Groups of Ottawa residents gathered early around the national war memorial where the soldier, Corporal Nathan Cirillo, 24, was slain on Wednesday at the start of a brazen daylight attack by a man police identified as Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, a 32-year-old Canadian citizen.
“I feel tremendous sadness,” said April Hall, 43, a doctor from London, Ontario, as she sat near the monument wiping tears from her eyes. “This is a memorial to those who sacrificed their lives for Canada, and there was a sacrifice right here on the spot.”
The attack by Zehaf-Bibeau, who according to US sources was a recent convert to Islam, came two days after another incident in Quebec, in which Martin Rouleau, 25 and also a recent convert, drove over two soldiers, killing one.
Both men were shot dead by security officers.
The attacks on soldiers came during a week when the Canadian military sent six jet fighters to the Middle East to take part in a campaign of air strikes against Islamic State militants.
Police said that Zehaf-Bibeau had traveled to Ottawa seeking a passport and that he had intended to travel to Syria, a hot spot of Islamic State activity.
Canadian officials vowed to continue their military efforts and yesterday two long-range patrol aircraft were due to depart Nova Scotia for the Middle East.
Separately, Turkish officials reported that an unidentified yellow powder was found at the Canadian consulate in Istanbul, with the German and Belgian consulates receiving similar packages, according to Turkish media.
Police were stationed at regular points along the wall surrounding the Parliament buildings in Ottawa, where metal barricades blocked the entrances to an area popular with tourists.
Bouquets were stuck into the gate’s scrollwork, as workers and visitors adapted to the tighter security in a city normally proud of its openness.
“It is a real shame,” said Ian Campbell, 57, a government worker. “I don’t know how you stop somebody from doing this kind of thing.”
Officials planned yesterday to move Cirillo’s body from Ottawa to his hometown of Hamilton, Ontario, along a 500km stretch of highway called the “Highway of Heroes” in honour of soldiers.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police Commissioner Bob Paulson on Thursday said that investigators had linked Zehaf-Bibeau to someone charged with what he called a terrorist-related offence.
He did not give details other than saying Zehaf-Bibeau’s e-mail was found in the hard drive of that person, but vowed to rapidly learn if others had helped Zehaf-Bibeau plan his attack.
In Calgary, the Islamic Supreme Council of Canada and Muslims Against Terrorism plan to hold a memorial for Cirillo, as well as Patrice Vincent, the 53-year-old warrant officer who died in Monday’s attack.
Zehaf-Bibeau, who was born in Montreal, had lived in Calgary for a period, according to police.
Harper hid in a closet during attack: reports
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper was shoved into a closet when a gunman stormed parliament, local newspapers said yesterday.
According to MPs cited anonymously by the daily Globe & Mail and others, Harper spent as much as 15 minutes in the tiny space off a meeting room where he and his Conservative caucus were meeting.
Just outside the room, a firefight was erupting in the main Hall of Honour between the gunman and security forces that ended in the assailant’s death.
Harper initially sought to escape the room through a side door, but was urged to stay put.
“Someone knew there was a closet there, so they stuck him in there,” a source told the Globe & Mail.
Others in the room reportedly thought he was gone.
Meanwhile, several Tory MPs began fashioning spears out of flagpoles to protect themselves.
“These guys were up there holding these spears ready to impale anyone who came in,” the source said.
News images of the frantic scene also showed antique tables and green leather chairs stacked against the door as a barricade against the gunman.
