Canadian police shoot, kill terror suspect

Canadian police shot and killed an Islamic State sympathizer, thwarting what authorities believed was a suicide bomb plot, according to media reports.

The suspect, Aaron Driver, 24, was previously banned from associating with extremists from the militant group, also known as ISIL or ISIS, CBC News and the Associated Press reported.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said it "received credible information of a potential terrorist threat" in a statement Wednesday.

"A suspect was identified and the proper course of action has been taken to ensure that there is no danger to the public's safety," it added, without elaborating.

CBC News reported that the RCMP told Driver's family that he was shot after detonating a device that injured himself and one other person in the town of Strathroy, Ontario, 140 miles southwest of Toronto.

Driver, originally from Winnipeg, Manitoba, was under a court order not to associate with any terrorist organization, the AP reported. CBC said Driver, a Muslim convert, was arrested in June 2015 for openly supporting ISIL on social media in 2014, using the name Harun Abdourahman. He agreed to the conditions of a peace bond, which can limit a suspect's activities, in a court in Winnipeg this year after his arrest, it added.

Driver was ordered to wear a GPS tracking device and banned from going online or communicating with ISIL.  The government later said some of his bail conditions had been lifted and that he would not go on trial, the AP reported.

In October 2014, an Islamist extremist ran over two Canadian soldiers in Quebec, killing one. The attacker was shot and killed by police. Two days later, a gunman stormed the Parliament in Ottawa, killing a soldier. A review following the incidents said the country was “ill-prepared” to prevent terror attacks.

Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said he spoke to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau "to confirm that public safety has been and continues to be properly protected," The Canadian Press news agency reported.

Goodale said the terrorism threat level for Canada remains at "medium" where it has been since 2014, The Canadian Press added.