A dramatic video has been released that shows the moment Michael Zehaf Bibeau carried out his shooting rampage in the Canadian Capital of Ottawa.
The chilling footage follows Zehaf Bibeau immediately after he shot and killed Cpl Nathan Cirillo in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and then tracks the suspect as he stormed the Parliament building.
In the video, the man is filmed having abandoned a car on the street in front of Parliament Hill and running up the side drive carrying a rifle.
Nathan Cirillo has been named as the soldier killed in the attack
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He then hijacked a cabinet minister's car to drive a few dozen metres to the front door of the Centre Block where MPs fled for their lives.
The Ottawa Citizen reports that the car Zehaf Bibeau hijacked is registered to Western Economic Diversification Minister Michelle Rempel. Rempel's driver Nicholas Mamo fled the car, according to the paper.
People fled the complex by scrambling down scaffolding erected for renovations, while others took cover inside as police with rifles and body armour took up positions outside and cordoned off the normally bustling streets around Parliament.
Officials have said that the shooter was met with gunfire from Commons security at the door, as the video showed two Mounties chasing him as he forced his way in.
The shooter at Canadian parliament
MPs, meanwhile, took to social media to live-tweet their terrifying ordeal:
The emerging portrait of Zehaf Bibeau is a fragmented one: A misfit who went more than five years without seeing his mother. A crack cocaine user who once told a psychological evaluator he wanted to go to jail to beat his addiction. A committed Muslim who said he wanted to become a better man, but in recent weeks seemed to come unglued. A homeless shelter resident who talked about wanting to go to Libya — or Syria — and became upset when he couldn't get a passport.
A day after the 32-year-old Canadian launched what the prime minister called a terrorist attack, a top police official said Thursday that Zehaf Bibeau — whose father was from Libya — may have lashed out in frustration over delays in getting his passport.
"I think it was central to what was driving him," said Royal Canadian Mounted Police Commissioner Bob Paulson on Thursday.
- Witnesses interviewed by Ottawa Police Services reported seeing the shooter, at around 9:50 coming from behind the War Memorial on the West side where he fires twice at Reservist Nathan Cirillo.
- The shooter is positioned on an angle behind the victim where they cannot see him coming (as they are facing south). The shooter fires one shot at the second guard, but he missed him. Witnesses heard the suspect yelling something in English and then running towards the north.
- The investigation revealed that he used the beige vehicle and headed to Wellington.
- The first calls received via 911 were around 09:52:36
- From the National War Memorial the suspect drove North on Wellington Street and parked his vehicle at 9:52:23 in front of the Elgin entrance.
- He accessed the grounds of Parliament Hill at 9:52:31 on foot and started running toward East Block where MP vehicles were parked.
- At 9:53:16, video footage shows the suspect overtook one of these vehicles and drove toward Centre Block.
- At 9:53:37, he immobilised the vehicle on the left side of the Peace Tower and started running toward the main doors of Centre Block. At that time, RCMP vehicles on site chased the suspect to the entrance of Centre Block.
- The suspect entered Centre Block at 9:53:46, seconds before the RCMP officers that were chasing him were able to reach the doors.
- It took approximately 1 minute and 23 seconds between the time the suspect parked the beige car and entered Centre Block
Once inside Centre Block, the suspect engaged in a fire exchange with the House of Commons Security and RCMP officers. The exact details of this exchange are still under investigation. We need to recognise the courage of all officers involved in this fluid and dangerous situation.
- The suspect was pronounced dead at the scene.