Ottawa Shooting: Slain Soldier and Suspect Who Was Killed Identified—Sergeant-at-arms Hailed as Hero

Aimee Herd : Oct 22, 2014
Dean Beeby –CBC News

"MPs and Hill staff owe their safety, even lives, to Sergeant at Arms Kevin Vickers who shot attacker just outside the MPs' caucus rooms."

(Ottawa)—Police released the name of a soldier in the Canadian Forces who died in Wednesday morning's shooting at the National War Memorial in downtown Ottawa. He was Cpl. Nathan Cirillo, 24, a reservist from Hamilton, according to the CBC News report. (Photo: Cpl. Nathan Cirillo/via CBC News)

A suspect, who was killed, also had his name released by officials; he was Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, who was born in Canada in 1982.

At least one media report noted a possible ISIS connection to the suspect, saying: "Just after his name was released, an ISIS Twitter account posted [a] picture (right) claiming it was the Ottawa shooter." (Photo via Heavy.com)

After allegedly shooting Cpl. Cirillo while he stood guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Memorial, Zehaf-Bibeau was suspected to have then driven to the Parliament building.

A barrage of shots was fired within Parliament and a gunman was reportedly shot and killed by the Sergeant-at-arms, Kevin Vickers, 58, who is being hailed as a "hero." (Photo: Kevin Vickers/via CBC News)

Several of the MPs on the Hill tweeted their gratitude for Vickers' quick actions:

• "MPs and Hill staff owe their safety, even lives, to Sergeant at Arms Kevin Vickers who shot attacker just outside the MPs' caucus rooms." —New Democrat MP Craig Scott.

• "I am safe & profoundly grateful to Sgt at Arms Kevin Vickers & our security forces for selfless act of keeping us safe." —Veterans Affairs Minister Julian Fantino.

• "Thank God for Sgt at Arms Kevin Vickers & our Cdn security forces. True heroes." —Justice Minister Peter MacKay.

• "Kevin Vickers is such a fine man. His actions today are no surprise. Proud to call him a friend." —Green Party Leader Elizabeth May

According to reports, downtown Ottawa remained in lockdown mode on Wednesday afternoon, while police conducted searches in the area.