A 15-year-old boy who befriended the suspect in the first jihadist attack on Canadian soil was arrested days prior to the killing, local media said today.
The daily newspaper La Presse, citing unnamed sources, said the teenager had contacted suspected jihadist Martin Couture-Rouleau on Facebook.
The boy had become radicalised and stole Can USD 2,200 at knife-point from a grocer to pay for travel to a majority Muslim country to live under Sharia law.
His father alerted police and the boy was arrested on October 17 before he could leave the country.
His computer allegedly containing jihadist propaganda was seized. According to La Presse, the boy refused to tell police exactly where he was headed but his family has ties to North Africa.
Three days later, Muslim convert Couture-Rouleau mowed down Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent in a parking lot in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, southeast of Montreal.
Another Canadian soldier was shot and killed in Ottawa in a separate attack two days after that. The shooter was gunned down after storming parliament.
The boy, who cannot be named under Canadian law, has pleaded guilty to armed robbery and is due in court next month for sentencing.
