2014 Islamic Terrorist Attack in Canada
Joseph Paul Michael Abdallah Bulgasem Zehaf-Bibeau was an unhappy 32-year-old ne’er-do-well. He had a poor employment history and a criminal record for larceny and drug possession. He had converted to the Islamic faith of his Libyan father and expressed support for the jihadi cause of ISIS; he seems to have wished to migrate to the Middle East. In the mosques he attended he was a disturbing and unwanted figure.
In October 2014 he came to Ottawa to apply for a passport; his request for a Libyan document was quickly turned down. He grew more agitated, talked of avenging victims of bombing, and somehow acquired a Winchester rifle, though he could not legally possess firearms. On the morning of October 22 he drove to the National War Memorial with the gun and approached the three soldiers on ceremonial guard duty; as was customary, their weapons were unloaded. He shot Corporal Nathan Cirillo twice (he would die of his wounds) and fired on the other guards as well. Raising his rifle over his head, he shouted “For Iraq!” He then moved on to Parliament Hill, hijacked a vehicle and drove it to the Centre Block of Parliament where he ran inside. Once in the building he shot an unarmed policeman who tried to grab his gun and exchanged fire with other security officials. He was finally brought down in a hail of bullets from the guns of police and the Sergeant-at-Arms of the House of Commons.
Coming only two days after another Canadian Islamic convert had driven his car into two soldiers in Quebec killing one before he himself was shot dead by police, fears grew about the radicalization of Muslim youth.