Police: Canadian terror suspect killed during final stage of attack planning
![Parliament Hill in Ottawa.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/pHJLvWngpSGTYfgStZVvGG-415-80.jpg)
Authorities in Canada say a 24-year-old man killed during a raid at his house on Wednesday was finalizing plans to detonate a homemade bomb in a public place.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said Thursday that Aaron Driver, a known Islamic State supporter, died in the back seat of a taxi after he detonated an explosive device as police closed in on him. Police had said on Wednesday he was fatally shot by officers, but on Thursday they could not say if he died because of the explosive device or because he was shot, Reuters reports. The RCMP decided to raid Driver's home in Strathroy, Ontario, after they received "credible information," including a "martyrdom video" from the FBI. "The outcome if we had not been able to apprehend him, based on his actions when he was confronted, could have been significantly more dreadful," Deputy Commissioner Mike Cabana said. "It was a race against time."
Driver converted to Islam in his teens, and was arrested last year after posting pro-ISIS messages on social media, using the alias Harun Abdurahman. He wasn't charged with a crime, but was placed on a peace bond and told to stay away from computers and not contact any members of ISIS or other militant groups. The video sent to the RCMP showed a man wearing a black balaclava, repeating a phrase from the Koran, pledging allegiance to ISIS, and warning that an attack would take place in a Canadian city within the next 72 hours.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
![https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516-320-80.jpg)
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
Today's political cartoons - September 7, 2024
Cartoons Saturday's cartoons - football widows, meddling kids, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Smoking ban: the return of the nanny state?
Talking Point Starmer's plan to revive Sunak-era war on tobacco has struck an unsettling chord even with some non-smokers
By The Week UK Published
-
Crossword: September 7, 2024
The Week's daily crossword puzzle
By The Week Staff Published
-
Puffed rice and yoga: inside the collapsed tunnel where Indian workers await rescue
Speed Read Workers trapped in collapsed tunnel are suffering from dysentery and anxiety over their rescue
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
More than 2,000 dead following massive earthquake in Morocco
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Mexico's next president will almost certainly be its 1st female president
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
North Korea's Kim to visit Putin in eastern Russia to discuss arms sales for Ukraine war, U.S. says
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Gabon's military leader sworn in following coup in latest African uprising
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstances
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governor
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published