Mental breakdown not key factor in Parliament Hill shooting, RCMP boss says - Action News
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Mental breakdown not key factor in Parliament Hill shooting, RCMP boss says

Canada's top Mountie says the gunman who stormed Parliament Hill in 2014 would have had a difficult time pleading insanity had he lived to face charges.

Michael Zehaf-Bibeau would have had tough time pleading insanity, says top Mountie

RCMP commissioner Bob Paulson says the gunman who stormed Parliament Hill in 2014 would have had a difficult time pleading insanity had he lived to face charges. (Patrick Doyle/Canadian Press)

Canada's top Mountie says the gunman who stormedParliament Hill in 2014 would havehadadifficulttimepleadinginsanity had he lived to face charges.

But RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson acknowledges Michael Zehaf-Bibeau could have benefited from mental-healthcounselling beforethe rampage that saw him die in a hail of bullets.

A rifle-toting Zehaf-Bibeau, 32, raced into Parliament's CentreBlock in October 2014 after fatally killing Cpl. Nathan Cirillo, anhonour guard at the nearby National War Memorial.

Shortly before his attack, the gunman made a video in which hecited retaliation for Canada's military involvement in Afghanistanand Iraq as his motivation.

Michael Zehaf-Bibeau could have benefited from counselling before the fatal October 2014 attack, Canada's top Mountie said Friday. (Twitter)

Paulson told a Commons committee last year that the Mounties considered Zehaf-Bibeau a terrorist, and that he would have been charged with terrorism offences under the Criminal Code had he survived.

The commissioner told a security conference Fridaythat Zehaf-Bibeau might have then blamed his actions on mental illness butPaulson doesn't believe such a breakdown was the main factor.