WATCH ABOVE: An investigation into the Parliament Hill shooting has confirmed what quickly became evident that October day: the RCMP were unprepared for a terrorist attack. Vassy Kapelos reports.
TORONTO – The long-awaited report on the Ottawa shooting reveals chilling new details about the attack on the National War Memorial by gunman Michael Zehaf-Bibeau last Oct. 22.
The report by the Ontario Provincial Police outlines the final moments in which Cpl. Nathan Cirillo crawled for cover behind the war memorial after being shot by Zehaf-Bibeau.
On Oct. 22, 2014, Zehaf-Bibeau drove his Toyota Corolla to the National War Memorial, parking it on Wllington Street at 9:47 a.m., according to the report.
READ MORE: RCMP ‘not prepared’ to deal with Ottawa shooting, report says
Armed with a .30- 30 Winchester Model 94 lever action rifle and dressed in black with his face partially masked, Zehaf-Bibeau approached the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier guarded by Cirillo and fellow member of the honorary guard, Branden Stevenson.
The report states Zehaf-Bibeau stopped just over three metres from the two guards before he opened fire, striking Cirillo in the back.
According to the rerport, the 24-year-old father from Hamilton, Ont., attempted to crawl for cover behind the tomb when he was shot a second time in the lower back. Zehaf-Bibeau shot the fallen soldier a third and final time in the back as he “lay on his stomach in the prone position.”
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The gunman then yelled something similar to “Iraq,” before running back to his car. He later abandoned the car before carjacking another vehicle at 9:53 a.m. and driving towards Centre Block at a high rate of speed, according to the report.
At the war memorial, several bystanders, including a nurse, worked desperately to keep Cirillo alive by performing CPR and putting pressure on his wounds. He later succumbed to his injuries in hospital.
READ MORE: ‘You are so loved,’ lawyer tells Nathan Cirillo as she tries to save his life
As Zehaf-Bibeau stormed Centre Block, he was first struck by bullets from RCMP and House of Commons Security Services just seven seconds after bursting through the front doors, the report states. He was shot a total of 31 times.
The OPP report released Wednesday highlights a lack of “planning, training and resources” by the RCMP to protect Parliament buildings. The report suggests the attack Ottawa could have been much worse had the attacker bee more organized.
“It’s almost shocking to think what could have happened if it had been a more coordinated group with the type of training and resources that we have seen, for example, in Paris recently,” security expert David Hyde told Global News.
The Paris attacks on the offices of the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo and standoff at a kosher grocery store in Paris left 16 dead. The two attackers and a policewoman later died in the ensuing manhunt between Jan. 7 to 9.
The report includes 66 recommendations for increasing security on Parliament Hill, however, most have been redacted.
In the wake of last October’s shootings, the RCMP took over primary responsibility for policing Parliament and security has been strengthened. Guided tours no longer take place when the prime minister is in meetings with MPs.
FULL REPORTS: OPP investigations into Parliament Hill shooting and death of Michael Zehaf Bibeau
*With files from Vassy Kapelos
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