A picture of Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, the suspected Ottawa shooter posted on Twitter.
A picture of Michael Zehef-Bibeau, the suspected Ottawa shooter posted on Twitter.Twitter

Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, who also went by the name of Abdul Zehalf-Bibeau is now reported to be the suspected Ottawa Parliament Hill shooter, gunned down by a sergeant of arms.

Reports claim that Canadian national Zehaf-Bibeau was of Algerian descent and has been on the terrorist watch list.

Multiple reports suggested that Zehaf-Bibeau could be an ISIS jihadi, like Martin Couture-Rouleau aka Ahmad, who killed a Canadian soldier and injured another in St-Jean-sur-Richelieu earlier on Monday.

The 25-year-old Couture-Rouleau, who converted to Islam last year, was later shot and killed by police after a chase. Reports claim that he told 911 that he killed the soldiers for 'Allah.'

Both Zehaf-Bibeau and Couture-Rouleau were recent Muslim converts, who wanted to leave Canada to fight with the ISIS in Syria.

The Canadian intelligence officials, who have been monitoring some 90 ISIS jihadi supporters in Canada, have identified Couture-Rouleau as 'high-risk traveller' and even seized his passport.

A Reuters report citing the US government sources said that the shooter Zehaf-Bibeau was born as Michael Joseph Hall but later changed his name. 

Incidentally, the first images of the Ottawa shooter were released on Twitter by an IS affiliate account, which has been deleted now, however, according to Military Studies, that specialises on conflict reporting, the same Twitter account was followed by Couture-Rouleau.

There are also reports emerging that Zehaf-Bibeau and Couture-Rouleau were in communication with each other. The intelligences are currently reviewing Zehaf-Bibeau's details to confirm the motive of his crime.

Meanwhile, the CBC Ottawa has confirmed that the picture published on Twitter indeed belongs to Zehaf-Bibeau.

Another image of the Ottawa shooter has emerged on a Facebook account under Zehaf-Bibeau's name.

An image posted of Michael Zehaf-Bibeau aka Abdul on Facebook
An image posted of Michael Zehaf-Bibeau aka Abdul on FacebookFacebook

A Canadian Parliament member had earlier informed that the shooter looked like an "Arabian" with "long hair and a small beard."

According to CNN's sources, Zehaf-Bibeau was born in 1982, who had a history of drug use before his conversion to Islam.

Montreal reporter Domenic Fazioli tweeted that Zehaf-Bibeau had been arrested five times previously — on three occasions for drug possession and on two instances for violating his parole conditions.

Watch Full Update on Ottawa Shooting

In the Parliament Hill attack, a 24-year-old Canadian soldier Nathan Cirillo was shot and killed at 'point blank' range. The attacker(s) also wounded at least two others.

As of now, it is still unclear whether Zehaf-Bibeau was alone or with a team during the operation.

At a press conference, the officials declined to comment on the possible number of shooters, even though Ottawa police spokesman Chuck Benoit said that two or three gunmen were believed to be involved in the attacks.

It is believed that Zehaf-Bibeau may have been answering the call to arms by the IS militants, who had asked its supporters to kill 'infidel' in America, France, Canada, the UK, Australia and other countries that are supporting the US-led coalition against the ISIS.