Ottawa footage shows gunman

Security remained tight in Ottawa on Friday, two days after a gunman identified as Michael Zehaf-Bibeau fatally shot a soldier and forced his way into parliament.

In video footage released by police on Thursday, the 32-year-old attacker can be seen hijacking a car, breaching parliament security, and exchanging fire with guards - just minutes after he gunned down army reservist Corporal Nathan Cirillo at the capital's war memorial.

Zehaf-Bibeau was shot dead outside MPs' caucus rooms by Sergeant-at-Arms Kevin Vickers, who was given a standing ovation when parliament resumed on Thursday.

Did he act alone?

Immediately after Wednesday's attack, Canadian police began probing Zehaf-Bibeau's background to determine whether he acted alone, or whether the incident was part of a wider plot.

"The investigation is ongoing and will rapidly determine if Zehaf-Bibeau received any support in the planning of his attack," Royal Canadian Mounted Police Commissioner Bob Paulson told reporters.

"These are difficult threats to detect…there is no way of knowing where or when such an attack could take place," he added

Police say they suspect Zehaf-Bibeau was in Ottawa applying for a passport to travel to Syria - having undergone a "radicalization process" - but may have become frustrated by delays in the issuing of the document.

"I think it was central to what was driving him," Paulson said.

Investigators are also looking into possible links between the gunman and someone charged with a "terrorist-related offence." Police say an email from Zehaf-Bibeau was reportedly found on that person's hard drive, but would not provide more details.

Second attack in as many days

Canada has recently faced threats in video broadcasts by "Islamic State" (IS) militants over its role in US-led airstrikes on the group in Iraq, but it has never experienced Islamist violence at home. This week six Canadian warplanes were sent to the Middle East to take part in the bombing on jihadist targets.

Authorities say some 90 Canadians are suspected of planning to join IS fighters in Iraq and Syria, or had already returned, but Paulson said Thursday that Zehaf-Bibeau was not on that list.

Wednesday's attack on parliament came two days after 25-year-old Martin Couture-Rouleau ploughed his car into two soldiers in a Quebec parking lot, killing one of them. He was shot dead by police following a high-speed car chase. Police say his passport had recently been seized when he tried to travel to Turkey, citing fears about his jihadist ambitions.

Couture-Rouleau and Zehaf-Bibeau were born in Canada and had converted to Islam, but police chief Paulson said there was no evidence to connect the two incidents.

Stepping up security

Speaking before parliament on Thursday, Prime Minister Stephen Harper told lawmakers he would speed up plans to tighten security laws - including giving more powers in the areas of "surveillance, detention and arrest."

"They need to be much strengthened, and I assure you, Mr. Speaker, that work which is already under way will be expedited," he told the House of Commons.

The attacks in Canada have prompted officials in the United States to consider moves to toughen controls on the border, and make it easier to revoke the passports of suspected militants, but officials cautioned the plans are in preliminary stages.

nm/ipj (AFP, Reuters, AP)