Police have shot and killed a suspected terrorist in a raid in the Canadian province of Ontario on Wednesday evening.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) have not released any information about the operation, but local media report that Aaron Driver, 24, was shot dead after he detonated a device that injured himself and one other person.
The incident occurred as the police raised a residential address in the southwestern Ontario neighbourhood of Strathroy after receiving “credible information of a potential terrorist act” earlier in the day.
In a statement, the RCMP said:
“Earlier today, the RCMP received credible information of a potential terrorist threat. A suspect was identified and the proper course of action has been 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. As this is still an unfolding matter and that the investigation is still underway, we are not able to provide further comment at this time.”
CBC reports that Driver was a “known ISIS supporter” and that he had “agreed to the conditions of a peace bond in a Winnipeg court earlier this year after being arrested in June 2015”. He was not charged at the time, and released on bail on the condition that he would wear a GPS ankle bracelet and undergo religious counselling.
In February, Driver was given permission to remove his ankle bracelet after agreeing to limit a number of activities, including a ban on having a computer and mobile phone until the end of 2016.
Driver’s former lawyer, Leonard Tailleur, denied there was evidence that Driver was directly affiliated with ISIS or any other terrorist organization.
