Message claims former University of Ottawa student was killed in northern Syria
A pro-ISIS Twitter account says John Maguire, a former University of Ottawa student who joined ISIS and appeared in a propaganda video in December, is dead, according to media reports.
The message says Maguire, 23, was killed in Kobani, northern Syria.
Maguire was a recent convert to Islam who became radicalized. He dropped out of university in 2012 before leaving Ottawa in January 2013. Reports first surfaced in August 2014 suggesting he had travelled to Syria to join ISIS.
Maguire made headlines again when he appeared in an ISIS video Dec. 7 in which he urged other Muslims to attack Canadians.
The tweet claims he was killed alongside a man known as Abu Sa’d Al-Dagestani, who appeared in an ISIS video this week that showed a child executing two men that were alleged to have been Russian spies.
Maguire was among hundreds of people from Western countries to travel to the Middle East to join the ranks of the notorious extremist group.
