Canada Re-evaluates Security After Shooting In Ottawa

The Canadian government says it will increase surveillance and provide the security forces with more authority to detain suspects after Wednesday's shooting in the capital, Ottawa. NPR's Jackie Northam joins us with the latest.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Here is some of the back story of a shooting in Canada. Before he opened fire in Ottawa this week, according to police, Michael Zehaf-Bibeau was talking of travel. He told his mother he wanted to go to Canada's capital to get a passport so that he could go to Syria. Instead, according police, he killed a soldier in open fire on Canada's parliament building. Authorities say he was a recent and radicalized convert to Islam. NPR's Jackie Northam is covering the story from Canada's capital. Hi,Jackie.

JACKIE NORTHAM, BYLINE: Good morning, Steve.

INSKEEP: So what more have you learned about this man?

NORTHAM: Well, the police held a press conference yesterday. And they say that Michael Zehaf-Bibeau had been living at a shelter here in Ottawa since early October. They said he had come to the capital from Western Canada because he thought it would be easier to get a passport. And as part of that process, Zehaf-Bibeau came under investigation, primarily because he had a long criminal record. Police initially thought Zehaf-Bibeau wanted to go to Libya. His father was Libyan. And, in fact, his mother told police after the shooting that her son was planning to go to Syria. Despite investigating Zehaf-Bibeau, the authorities did not put him on a high risk watch list.