The RCMP shot and killed an alleged ISIS sympathizer in a small southern Ontario town on Wednesday after the force said it received “credible information” of a potential terrorist act earlier in the day.
The dead man was identified as 24-year-old Aaron Driver, a resident of Strathroy, a town of about 20,000 located just west of the city of London.
Authorities said Driver was under a peace bond after catching the attention of Canada’s spy agency, CSIS, for tweeting support for ISIS under the alias Harun Abdurahman in October, 2014.
That month, two Canadian soldiers were killed by Canadians in separate incidents in Ottawa and near Montreal.
Police later said both were ISIS-inspired attacks.
Wednesday’s confrontation came as RCMP officers were conducting an operation in the residential area where Driver lived.
The RCMP said CSIS and other police and security agencies were involved in the operation.
The RCMP told Driver’s family that he was shot after he detonated a device that injured him and another unidenified person.
Speaking to CBC News, Driver’s former lawyer, Leonard Tailleur, said there was no evidence that Driver was affiliated with ISIS or any other terrorist organization.
“It’s shocking. Absolutely shocking actually,” said Tailleur, who handled Driver’s peace bond process.
“He was generally looked to be low risk as long as there’s certain things to be dealt with.”
Under Canadian law, a peace bond is an order from a criminal court that requires a person to keep the peace and be on good behaviour for a period of time, meaning he must not be charged with any additional criminal offences during its duration.
Crown prosecutors usually issue peace bonds when they are convinced that a strong case does not exist against the accused.
Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said he had spoken to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau about the events “to confirm that public safety has been and continues to be properly protected.”
With CBC and CP files.
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