Police in Canada say they have gunned down a sympathizer of the Takfiri Daesh terrorist group during a raid launched on “credible information” about a potential terror threat.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said in a statement on Wednesday night that, following the identification of the suspect, “the proper course of action” was “taken to ensure that there is no danger to the public’s safety.”
“The safety and security of Canadians is of the utmost importance to the RCMP and we take all such threats seriously,” the statement further read, adding that, “This is still an unfolding matter.”
According to the CTV News, the lone suspect, identified as Aaron Driver, 23, was killed in gunfire after heavily-armed police, including SWAT teams, a bomb squad, RCMP officers in tactical gear and Canada’s military special operations forces, raided his house in Strathroy, a community in the southeastern province of Ontario.
The official Canadian news organization, citing an internal government memo, added that the suspect was planning to use an improvised explosive device to carry out a bomb attack in a public area in a major Canadian city.
Driver was, according to the report, well-known to police and intelligence officials as he had previously tweeted in support of Daesh and applauded an October 2014 attack on the parliament building.
Back then, a gunman, allegedly linked to Daesh, attacked the Centre Block parliament building but was fatally shot by security forces.
Driver had also urged Daesh to target Canadian military and police.
Although he had been detained last year over his tweets, he was never formally charged, and was released on a peace bond. He had, however, been banned from using a computer, a cellphone or associating with terrorist sympathizers.
Canada’s Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale also said in a statement shortly after the incident that he and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had discussed the situation “to confirm that public safety has been and continues to be properly protected.”
He said Canada’s National Terrorism Threat Level has been at “medium” since the fall of 2014.