On October 28, 2014, Corporal Nathan Cirillo was laid to rest in his hometown of Hamilton, Ontario. In light of these recent tragic events, Her Campus uOttawa would like respectfully shed light on the events of his passing.
Wednesday October 22, 2014 started like any other Wednesday. We all woke up, went to school, did what we all usually do as every day collegiette. That being said, around 10:00am our Facebook, Twitter and cell phones were overflowing with petrifying news of a shooting, here, in our beloved Ottawa. Soon after the entire downtown core was sent into lockdown, as was the uOttawa campus.
A man, later declared as Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, fatally shot Cpl. Cirillo as he did his civic ceremonial guard duties and watched over the Canadian National War Memorial. After having done so, Zehaf-Bibeau drove to parliament, stole a car, and proceeded to enter Centre Block, wherein this video shows a large amount of gun fire exchanged between the RCMP and other officers at the scene (which included Kevin Vickers, the Sergeant-at-Arms of the House of Commons), and the gunman. Vickers managed to successfully take down the shooter, ending Zehaf-Bibeau’s rampage through Ottawa.
Through later investigation, Zehaf-Bibeau was found to be a very troubled man. He lived at The Mission with a criminal record and was unfortunately a drug user. Though having recently converted to Islam, it’s clear that he was not a stable individual, and as Thomas Mulcair, the head of the NDP party pointed out, Zehaf-Bibeau was not a terrorist, but in fact a criminal.
The terrifying events of Wednesday October 22, 2014 have left Corporal Nathan Cirillo, a fellow Canadian, a soldier, an athlete, a dog owner, and a single father, dead. Her Campus uOttawa, we would like to send out our genuine and sincere condolences to Cpl. Cirillo and his family, and to all others who may have been affected by this deeply saddening tragedy. Our thoughts and prayers are with you.
We would like to thank all the officers who helped protect Ottawa and serve in our time of need that day, but also everyday. Thank you for risking your lives for us, and for keeping our beautiful country safe.
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