Parliament Hill came under attack today after a man with a rifle shot a soldier standing guard at the National War Memorial in downtown Ottawa, before seizing a car and driving to the doors of Parliament Hill's Centre Block nearby.
MPs and other witnesses reported several shots fired inside Parliament, and a gunman has been confirmed dead inside the building. The soldier's condition is not known as this time.
One suspect is believed still at large. Police are at the Rideau Centre shopping mall just east of Parliament Hill where shots were reported after the Centre Block attack.
Ottawa Civic Hospital confirmed two victims are on the way to hospital, and one of them was shot. The hospital said both are believed to have non-life-threatening injuries.
Ottawa police confirmed shots were fired in three locations: the war memorial, inside Centre Block and at the Rideau Centre. The downtown area remains in police lockdown.
Alain Merisier, who works at the cafeteria in one of the Parliament Buildings, told CBC News that he saw a man in a car at the Centre Block with a long gun.
Cellphone video shot by a Globe and Mail reporter showed a chaotic scene in the elegant hallway leading from the front doors of Parliament's Centre Block to the Library of Parliament during the attack.
A sustained volley of shots was fired. Startled security personnel and political staff scrambled to take cover in the limestone alcoves as bullets flew.
There was an unconfirmed report of a person injured outside the Library of Parliament.
Police confirmed the shooting at the National War Memorial, and sealed off the area while the injured soldier was given emergency medical aid. He was later put into an ambulance.
"We were waiting there for a city tour and suddenly I heard four shots," said Jan Luchtenburg, a tourist visiting downtown Ottawa from Holland.
"Suddenly I saw a small guy with long black hair... with a long rifle, and he ran away after the shots, across streets in the direction of ParliamentHill," he said.
Reevo Namic, another bystander, said "all of a sudden I just heard a shot, turned around and there was a guy with a rifle....and just pow pow.
"Then I saw one of the other Armed Forces guys just running. He barrelled over, just ran right over. The other guy just dropped. I looked back and just dived underneath and immediately called 911."
The National War Memorial stands in Confederation Square in the heart of downtown Ottawa. The Parliament Buildings are to the northeast.
MPs moved to safety
Scott Walsh, who was working on Parliament Hill, said he saw a man running with a double-barrelled shotgun, wearing a scarf and blue jeans.
Cabinet ministers, MPs and journalists in the buildings housing the House of Commons and Senate were in lockdown as police tracked the gunman.Walsh said the man hopped over the stone fence that surrounds Parliament Hill, with his gun forcing someone out of a car. He then drove to the front doors of Parliament and fired at least two shots, Walsh said.
The Prime Minister's Office says Stephen Harper is safe and not on Parliament Hill. Opposition Leader Tom Mulcair and Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau are also safe, it has been reported.
Police are still searching for other gunmen, and have sealed off the area, moving bystanders and reporters to the nearby Chateau Laurier Hotel. Other witnesses were taken to the city's police headquarters.
New Democrat MP Hélène Laverdière said she heard 20 to 30 shots, and hit the floor. She and fellow MPs Charlie Angus and Rosane Doré Lefebvre were later led out of the Centre Block to safety.
Doré Lefebvre said she was worried about getting her daughter from the daycare facility on Parliament Hill.
Signature goes here!
