The young man killed by police on Monday after he ran over two Canadian soldiers with his car in a Quebec was known to authorities as a suspected radical, officials said.
One of the two soldiers is in critical condition in a hospital in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, about 40km southeast of Montreal, while the other was not as seriously injured, officials have said.
The incident occurred shortly before noon, when a car smashed into the two soldiers in a supermarket parking lot before fleeing with police in pursuit.
A few kilometers away, the driver lost control of his car and flipped into a ditch. A witness said the driver was holding a knife and headed toward police after he extricated himself from his vehicle.
Police shot multiple times at the 25-year-old suspect, who later died.
Quebec police could not confirm whether the man was armed and said only that shots had been fired.
The suspect was known to “federal authorities including our Integrated National Security Investigations team in Montreal,” who “were concerned that he had become radicalized,” federal police said in a statement.
The investigation into the incident is ongoing, the statement said, adding that federal police are working with law enforcement partners “to ensure all avenues of investigation are pursued.”
Quebec police said the “terrorist thesis [is] being considered by investigators,” but did not provide further details. They did not specify any links between the suspect and any outlawed groups. Police searched the man’s home and interviewed his contacts on Monday night.
The incident drew political attention when Conservative Party lawmaker Randy Hoback referred to “unconfirmed reports of a possible terror attack” in a question to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper in the House of Commons.
A neighbor of the suspect told a TV station he had seen changes in the man’s behavior in recent years.
“There was sort of a change in the last year or two,” the neighbor said, adding that: “He had converted to Islam.”
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