Review identifies security lapses in report on Parliament Hill shooting

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The Ontario Provincial Police force has identified a number of security gaps – including a lack of cameras inside Parliament – as part of its review of the police response to the Ottawa shooting of Oct. 22, sources say.

The OPP has recently informed the House of Commons and the RCMP that it will send them its final report into the terrorist attack by the end of the month. The report is not expected to focus on individual wrongdoing, but highlight fundamental flaws in the security protocols on Parliament Hill at the time of the attack, the sources said.

The sources said the review found a number of problems at the time of the shooting, including: not enough staff in key positions, such as the monitoring of security cameras; the fact that visitors to Parliament were not being screened; and poor communications between the different agencies that provided security on the Hill.

One day after the attack, RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson released security-camera footage of a gun-carrying Michael Zehaf-Bibeau moving swiftly to the entrance of Centre Block. But sources said there is no complete video record of the events inside.

Cameras captured Mr. Zehaf-Bibeau's arrival at the bottom of the stairs of the entrance. He went on to run through the Hall of Honour that cuts through two rooms that were used for Conservative and NDP caucus meetings that day, and was gunned down in an alcove at the end of the corridor.

Mr. Zehaf-Bibeau was "riddled with bullets," according to a source who has been briefed on the events that day. But there is no video recording of the shootout, which would allow an assessment of his final moments, the source said.

While there were many witnesses to the shooting, the lack of video footage will make it harder for security officials to prepare a proper plan to deal with any future attack. Sources said police officers and guards who were chasing Mr. Zehaf-Bibeau faced a potentially lethal situation as shots rang out inside Parliament, with at least one officer nearly hit in a crossfire.

"Everyone who was in that hallway was in jeopardy," a source said.

Sources said that at the sound of gunfire, Prime Minister Stephen Harper left the caucus room and was heading toward the location where the final showdown with Mr. Zehaf-Bibeau occurred. With renewed shooting, he returned into the caucus room where MPs were guarding the door, until he was informed the threat was neutralized.

However, sources said, there was confusion when the Prime Minister's security detail came to pick him up at the doors of Parliament, which were locked and guarded by House of Commons security.

After the event, the OPP was mandated to review the response by RCMP officers and House of Commons security as Mr. Zehaf-Bibeau entered the parliamentary precinct. A summary of the report has been provided to Commissioner Paulson and Commons Speaker Andrew Scheer, OPP Sergeant Peter Leon said Tuesday.

The House of Commons and the RCMP said they will not comment until they receive the final report.

Mr. Zehaf-Bibeau entered the grounds of Parliament and hijacked a ministerial car to make his way more quickly to Centre Block, highlighting how loose rules on the Hill can be exploited by terrorists.

A common refrain among security experts is that a catastrophe was avoided mostly because Mr. Zehaf-Bibeau was untrained, unlike the shooters who stormed the Charlie Hebdo newspaper offices in Paris last January.

"There was massive chaos," a source said of the events in Ottawa. "If it had been a situation like in France, you would have had all kinds of death and destruction."

Mr. Zehaf-Bibeau killed one victim, Corporal Nathan Cirillo, a ceremonial guard at the War Memorial. The only person injured inside Parliament was Constable Samearn Son, a House guard who was hit in the foot by a ricocheting bullet as he tried to stop Mr. Zehaf-Bibeau.

The RCMP used to be responsible for security outside of the Parliament Buildings, with House and Senate guards in charge inside the buildings. The government has now asked the national police force to take over the responsibility for security throughout the precinct, although beefed-up security measures will require increased funding from the government.