Armed RCMP officers approach Centre Block on Parliament Hilll following a shooting incident in Ottawa October 22, 2014.
Armed RCMP officers approach Centre Block on Parliament Hilll following a shooting incident in Ottawa October 22, 2014. A Canadian soldier was shot at the Canadian War Memorial and a shooter was seen running towards the nearby parliament buildings, where more shots were fired, according to media and eyewitness reports. REUTERS/Chris Wattie

The gunman who attacked Canada's parliament and killed a soldier on Wednesday, October 22 had political motives. According to police, the man was ideologically driven to launch the assault.

Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, the gunman responsible for the Parliament attack, apparently made a video where he expressed his political ideologies. According to a statement issued by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, it is not possible to release the video at the moment as the RCMP is conducting a detailed analysis of it. The video made by Zehaf-Bibeau was apparently made on Tuesday, the day before he had launched the attack on Canada's parliament. CBC News reported that, according to its sources, Zehaf-Bibeau had made specific references to Canada's foreign policies to justify his motivation for his actions. He also reportedly praised Allah in the video. The investigators are expected to make the video public within a couple of days. Reuters reported that the 32-year-old Zehaf-Bibeau had killed Corporal Nathan Cirillo during his assault on the Canadian parliament. The gunman was eventually shot dead inside the parliament building.

The RCMP said that it was still trying to find the origin of the rifle Zehaf-Bibeau had used during the assault. However, the knife which he was believed to have carried was retrieved from his aunt's property. The RCMP statement said that Zehaf-Bibeau had carried an "old an uncommon" rifle. It was suspected that Zehaf-Bibeau could have hidden the rifle in his aunt's property just like what he did for the knife, the statement said. However, it said that the inquiries would continue to find it out.

Earlier it was reported that Zehaf-Bibeau had expressed the desire to go to Syria for studies. However, his mother denied the report in her letter to Postmedia. An RCMP statement apparently said that Zehaf-Bibeau's mother had given such information to police. Susan Bibeau said it was not Syria where her son had wanted to go to. She said that her son had intended to go to Saudi Arabia to study the Quran.

The RCMP reported that Zehaf-Bibeau had been a worker in the oil fields of Alberta. He started living in a homeless shelter in Ottawa just before the assault.

Contact the writer: s.mukhopadhyay@ibtimes.com.au

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