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World|life|October 23, 2014 / 09:43 AM
Canadian PM: Ottawa war memorial, Parliament shootings were terrorism

AKIPRESS.COM - canadaap542545998562Tragedy and terror struck Canada's capital city Wednesday as a gunman shot a soldier standing guard at the country's National War Memorial before storming the Parliament building, putting Ottawa's downtown on lockdown and sending terrified government members and employees scrambling for safety.

Canada's prime minister called the incident the country's second terrorist attack in three days. "This week's events are a grim reminder that Canada is not immune to the types of terrorist attacks we have seen elsewhere," Prime Minister Stephen Harper said in a national address Wednesday evening, reports CBS.

"We will not be intimidated. Canada will never be intimidated," Harper added. Law enforcement and U.S. government sources told CBS News the suspect's birth name was Michael Joseph Hall, born in Quebec in 1982. He recently converted to Islam and called himself Michael Abdul Zehar Bibeau. Sources said he had a history of drug addiction prior to his conversion.

Bibeau was reportedly shot to death by the ceremonial sergeant-at-arms of the House of Commons, a former police officer. The gunman's motives have not been determined. "In the days to come we will learn about the terrorist and any accomplices he may have had," Harper said.

Canada was already on alert because of a deadly hit-and-run assault Monday against two Canadian soldiers by a man Harper described as an "ISIL-inspired terrorist," referring to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, also known as ISIS.

The series of incidents in Ottawa began shortly before 10 a.m., when the soldier was shot. The victim, identified to CBS News by a cousin as 24-year-old Cpl. Nathan Cirillo, was later pronounced dead from his wounds.

Witnesses said Cirillo was gunned down by a man dressed all in black with a scarf over his face.

"I looked out the window and saw a shooter, a man dressed all in black with a kerchief over his nose and mouth and something over his head as well, holding a rifle and shooting an honor guard in front of the cenotaph point-blank, twice," Tony Zobl, 35, told the Canadian Press news agency.

Zobl said he witnessed the incident from his fourth-floor window directly above the National War Memorial, a 70-foot, arched granite cenotaph, or tomb, with bronze sculptures commemorating World War I.

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