Ottawa, Oct 24 (BBC) : The gunman who killed a soldier at an Ottawa war memorial and rampaged through Canada's parliament before being shot dead has been widely identified as 32-year-old Michael Zehaf-Bibeau.

Canadian sources told local media that the government considered him a "high-risk traveller", confiscating his passport to stop him from going abroad.

Court documents show Michael Zehaf-Bibeau was convicted of several petty crimes during the early 2000s, spending several days in jail.

He was charged in Quebec for crimes including credit card fraud and multiple counts of drugs possession.

In Vancouver in 2011 he was also charged with robbery and making threats. A psychiatric assessment at the time considered him fit to stand trial.

The suspect grew up in Laval, a city north of Montreal in Quebec.

Canadian media said his father, Bulgasem Zehaf, was originally from Libya and ran a cafe in Montreal. His mother, named as Susan Bibeau, worked at Canada's Immigration and Refugee Board.

The pair were said to have divorced in 1999.

'Erratic behaviour'

Neighbours told broadcaster CBC Michael Zehaf-Bibeau was a sweet boy, and that they were shocked at the news.

Canadian newspaper the Globe and Mail spoke to Dave Bathurst, who said he became friends with the suspect after they met in a mosque three years ago.

Mr Bathurst said his friend did not appear to have extremist views at first, but had displayed some "erratic" behaviour.

"We were having a conversation in a kitchen, and I don't know how he worded it: he said the devil is after him," Mr Bathurst told the Globe and Mail. "I think he must have been mentally ill."

They last met at a mosque six weeks ago, when Michael Zehaf-Bibeau said he wanted to "go back to Libya to study".

He insisted that he was only going abroad with the intent of learning about Islam and to study Arabic, Mr Bathust added.