Canada Ottawa Shooting
A wreath laid by Canada's Minister of National Defence Rob Nicholson stands in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the National War Memorial in downtown Ottawa Blair Gable/Reuters

Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, the gunman responsible for the attack on the Canadian parliament in Ottawa, was planning to travel to Syria to take part in the ongoing conflict, the police have said.

Zehaf-Bibeau, a Muslim convert who was believed to possess dual Libyan citizenship, was undergoing a "radicalisation process," investigators said.

"We need to investigate and understand his radicalisation process. He is an interesting individual in that he had a very well-developed criminality. There is no one path or one formula to radicalisation," Bob Paulson, commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), told reporters.

Zehaf-Bibeau's father is from Libya. His mother, a Canadian, strongly denounced her son's attack.

The 32-year-old gunman shot dead Cpl Nathan Cirillo, who was guarding the National War Memorial, which is located near the parliament building, during his attack. He was later shot dead by Sergeant-at-Arms Kevin Vickers upon entering the building.

The authorities have also released dramatic CCTV footage as the shooter was racing through the parliament building.

It has also emerged that, prior to his attack on the parliament complex, the assailant was addicted to crack cocaine, and wanted police to lock him in jail to prevent him from committing further criminal activity.

"I wanted to come to jail. The RCMP couldn't do the work fast enough. I warned them that if you can't keep me in I will do something right now to put me in," Zehaf-Bibeau told the court during a bail hearing on 11 December, 2011 according to reports.

A psychiatrist, who examined Zehaf-Bibeau at that time, wrote in his assessment report: "The accused is aware of his charged and possible consequences of conviction. He wants to be in jail as he believes this is the only way he can overcome his addiction to crack cocaine.

"He has been a devoted Muslim for seven years and he believes he must spend time in jail as a sacrifice to pay for his mistakes in the past and he hopes to be a better man when he is eventually released."

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