OTTAWA (Reuters) – An armed member of the Canadian military who drove a truck through gates protecting the part of Ottawa where Prime Minister Justin Trudeau lives was acting alone and now faces numerous charges, police said on Friday.
Trudeau was not at home when the incident occurred on Thursday morning. Trudeau and his family live in a large house on the grounds of Rideau Hall, which sits on an 88-acre (0.35 square km) wooded estate.
The man’s truck broke down after he hit the gates and he was later arrested without incident.
“There is no risk to the public and from what (information) we have, he was acting alone,” Royal Canadian Mounted Police Deputy Commissioner Mike Duheme told a news conference.
Duheme said the suspect – who had been armed with several weapons, including a rifle – would appear in court later on Friday but gave no details of the charges.
There is little history of serious violence targeting officials in Canada. Trudeau, however, donned a bulletproof vest for an election campaign rally in October last year after officials detected a security threat.
(Reporting by David Ljunggren in Ottawa; Editing by Matthew Lewis)
