Canadian police shoot, kill driver who struck soldiers
Official says man, 25, was influenced by radical Islam
MONTREAL – A man who was fatally shot by police after he struck two members of the Canadian military with his car Monday in a city near Montreal had become influenced by radical Islam, an official familiar with the case said.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police spokesman David Falls said the suspect “was known to Federal authorities” and “authorities were concerned that he had become radicalized.”
An official familiar with the case identified the suspect as Martin Couture Rouleau, 25, of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, and said he was influenced by radical Islamists.
One neighbor told reporters that Rouleau stopped wearing jeans and started wearing a tunic and that he changed over the last year and was alone a lot. Another neighbor said Rouleau converted to Islam a little over a year ago.
Police declined to provide details, citing the investigation.
Quebec police shot the man after two members of the military were struck by the motorist in a parking lot mall near Montreal. The suspect died a few hours after being shot.
Quebec provincial police Lt. Michel Brunet said earlier that police ended up shooting the man after a car chase in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, about 26 miles southeast of Montreal. After the man hit the two soldiers, he fled the scene in his vehicle, triggering a police chase that ended with the man losing control and his car rolling over several times.
Brunet said the man exited the car and was shot. He said they found a knife on the ground but he could not say if the man had it in his hand when police fired their weapons. Television images showed a large knife in the grass near his flipped over car.
Police said one of the soldiers was seriously injured, while the other’s injuries were less serious. Brunet said he didn’t know if the soldiers were wearing uniforms at the time they were struck.