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n a calm and collected tone, Aaron Driver told CBC News last year that he didn't think Muslims belonged in the West and that their ways of life weren't compatible with Canada's.
In a nearly 90-minute phone conversation in June 2015 the then-23-year-old ISIS supporter, who was living in Winnipeg at the time, spoke about his beliefs.
"If a country goes to war with another country or another people or another community, I think that they have to be prepared for things like [the Parliament Hill shooting] to happen," Driver said.
"And when it does happen they shouldn't, they shouldn't act surprised. They had it coming for them; they deserved it."
Aaron Driver, terror threat suspect, killed in confrontation with police
'It's shocking': Aaron Driver's former lawyer says terror threat suspect was considered low risk
On Wednesday, RCMP descended on the southwestern Ontario town of Strathroy after it said credible information of a potential terrorist threat was received earlier in the day. A memo circulated among National Defence personnel warning of a terrorist threat.
CBC News later learned that Driver's family was told by the RCMP that police shot Driver after he detonated a device in the back of a cab, injuring himself and the taxi driver. The family was also told Driver had another device that he was going to detonate.
At a news conference on Thursday, RCMP said Driver died in an altercation with police but it was unclear whether his death was a result of the explosive or from police fire.
A senior police official told The Canadian Press that Driver allegedly planned to carry out a suicide bombing mission in a public area.
Born to a Christian family in Saskatchewan
Before Driver caught the attention of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, Canada's spy agency, in October 2014, he went through a difficult childhood and found Islam online in his teens.
Driver was born to a Christian family in Regina. He lived there a few years while his father farmed. Throughout his life, he also lived in New Brunswick, Ontario and Alberta before moving to Manitoba in 2012.
His mother died when he was seven years old and his father later remarried and joined the Canadian Forces. Driver told CBC News he never really connected with his father and stepmother.
Driver's father spoke to CBC in March 2015 on the condition that he not be named. He said he was worried his son had become a radical extremist.
Winnipeg man considered radical extremist by CSIS, his father says
Aaron Driver defends ISIS, attack on Parliament, but denies he's a threat
The father said his son's behaviour significantly changed after his mother's death.
"It was like he turned out the lights and put a 'Do Not Disturb' sign on the door," the father said in 2015.
He was withdrawn and unwilling to talk about his grief, which his dad said turned him into a defiant teen.
At 16, the father said Driver left their Ontario home and "went and lived with social services at some halfway house, and they finished raising him." Four years later, Driver returned home and told his father he had cleaned up his act and converted to Islam.
Photo of 14-year-old Aaron Driver
Aaron Driver, shown at age 14, struggled after his mother died. (Facebook)
Driver said in his interview with CBC that, in fact, his father had sent him to live with his sister in London, Ont., after he was caught smoking a joint at age 14. Driver said he spent the following years getting into trouble. That changed when he was 17, after he found out his girlfriend was pregnant.
"I started reading the Bible … because, you know, I had a lot of responsibility coming my way very soon," Driver told CBC in 2015, adding it's also what drove him to Islam.
"I just decided it couldn't possibly be the word of God, so I started watching debates to find some answers. A lot of debates between Christians and atheists and Christians and Muslims, and the Muslims were always destroying them in these debates."
A turn to extremism
A few years after Driver's father moved back to Winnipeg, his son moved back in, sometime between 2011 and 2012. The father said Driver didn't seem outwardly religious, but he did fast for Ramadan and ate halal meat.
"When he was living at home, he was very secretive; a lone wolf. He didn't bring friends over, never talked about where he was going and what he was doing," Driver's father said.
The home life didn't last long; in 2015, both men told CBC their communication was sparse and strained.
"He's gone, he's lost, I can't help him," the father said.
In a nearly 90-minute phone conversation in June 2015 the then-23-year-old ISIS supporter, who was living in Winnipeg at the time, spoke about his beliefs.
"If a country goes to war with another country or another people or another community, I think that they have to be prepared for things like [the Parliament Hill shooting] to happen," Driver said.
"And when it does happen they shouldn't, they shouldn't act surprised. They had it coming for them; they deserved it."
Aaron Driver, terror threat suspect, killed in confrontation with police
'It's shocking': Aaron Driver's former lawyer says terror threat suspect was considered low risk
On Wednesday, RCMP descended on the southwestern Ontario town of Strathroy after it said credible information of a potential terrorist threat was received earlier in the day. A memo circulated among National Defence personnel warning of a terrorist threat.
CBC News later learned that Driver's family was told by the RCMP that police shot Driver after he detonated a device in the back of a cab, injuring himself and the taxi driver. The family was also told Driver had another device that he was going to detonate.
At a news conference on Thursday, RCMP said Driver died in an altercation with police but it was unclear whether his death was a result of the explosive or from police fire.
A senior police official told The Canadian Press that Driver allegedly planned to carry out a suicide bombing mission in a public area.
Born to a Christian family in Saskatchewan
Before Driver caught the attention of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, Canada's spy agency, in October 2014, he went through a difficult childhood and found Islam online in his teens.
Driver was born to a Christian family in Regina. He lived there a few years while his father farmed. Throughout his life, he also lived in New Brunswick, Ontario and Alberta before moving to Manitoba in 2012.
His mother died when he was seven years old and his father later remarried and joined the Canadian Forces. Driver told CBC News he never really connected with his father and stepmother.
Driver's father spoke to CBC in March 2015 on the condition that he not be named. He said he was worried his son had become a radical extremist.
Winnipeg man considered radical extremist by CSIS, his father says
Aaron Driver defends ISIS, attack on Parliament, but denies he's a threat
The father said his son's behaviour significantly changed after his mother's death.
"It was like he turned out the lights and put a 'Do Not Disturb' sign on the door," the father said in 2015.
He was withdrawn and unwilling to talk about his grief, which his dad said turned him into a defiant teen.
At 16, the father said Driver left their Ontario home and "went and lived with social services at some halfway house, and they finished raising him." Four years later, Driver returned home and told his father he had cleaned up his act and converted to Islam.
Photo of 14-year-old Aaron Driver
Aaron Driver, shown at age 14, struggled after his mother died. (Facebook)
Driver said in his interview with CBC that, in fact, his father had sent him to live with his sister in London, Ont., after he was caught smoking a joint at age 14. Driver said he spent the following years getting into trouble. That changed when he was 17, after he found out his girlfriend was pregnant.
"I started reading the Bible … because, you know, I had a lot of responsibility coming my way very soon," Driver told CBC in 2015, adding it's also what drove him to Islam.
"I just decided it couldn't possibly be the word of God, so I started watching debates to find some answers. A lot of debates between Christians and atheists and Christians and Muslims, and the Muslims were always destroying them in these debates."
A turn to extremism
A few years after Driver's father moved back to Winnipeg, his son moved back in, sometime between 2011 and 2012. The father said Driver didn't seem outwardly religious, but he did fast for Ramadan and ate halal meat.
"When he was living at home, he was very secretive; a lone wolf. He didn't bring friends over, never talked about where he was going and what he was doing," Driver's father said.
The home life didn't last long; in 2015, both men told CBC their communication was sparse and strained.
"He's gone, he's lost, I can't help him," the father said.