A Canadian man previously banned from associating with Islamic State extremists has been killed as Canada's national police force thwarted what they believed was a suicide bomb plot, a senior police official said.
The suspect allegedly planned to carry out a suicide bombing in a public area, a top Canadian police official said.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak ahead of a news conference later today, identified the suspect as Aaron Driver, a man in his mid-20s originally from Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Driver had been under the spotlight for at least a year, as authorities believed he was a threat because he could help terror groups.
The police operation involving Driver took place last night in the southern Ontario town of Strathroy, 225 kilometers southwest of Toronto.
Details of how Driver died have not been released. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said it halted a possible attack after receiving credible information of a potential terrorist threat.
Transit agencies in Toronto, Canada's largest city, were warned of a security threat before police confronted the suspect. Brad Ross, spokesman for the Toronto Transit Commission, said the agency was made aware of a terror threat investigation early the previous day, but noted that it had no specifics attached.
He said that as a precaution a "vigilance notice" was issued to all staff, encouraging them to speak up if they saw something of concern. Regional transit lines were also advised of a security threat.
Police said a suspect was identified and the "proper course of action has been taken" to ensure no danger to public safety.
Driver was under a court order from earlier this year to not associate with any terrorist organization, including the Islamic State group.
In February, Driver's lawyer and the prosecutor agreed to a peace bond stating there are "reasonable grounds to fear that he may participate, contribute directly or indirectly in the activity of a terrorist group."
Winnipeg-based lawyer Leonard Tailleur, who handled Driver's peace bond, said he was "shocked" to hear what had happened. "Saddened to hear that it had to end this way for him," Tailleur said in an email to the Canadian Press.
Driver was first picked up in Winnipeg in June 2015.
Amarnath Amarasingam, a post-doctoral fellow at Dalhousie University who studies radicalization and terrorism, maintained in 2015 that Driver had posted for several months on social media about disliking Canada and about a desire to move overseas.
When Driver was released later that month, he was ordered to wear a GPS tracking device and banned from going on the internet or having any communication with the Islamic State group, including wearing or carrying anything with an IS logo.
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