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Ottawa shooting kills Canadian soldier at War Memorial

A soldier was fatally shot at the National War Memorial Wednesday morning before a single, masked suspect was shot dead in Parliament. In the midst of the chaotic situation, authorities said they were seeking multiple shooters, but while police continued their search into the afternoon, they declined to say whether they believe the gunman acted alone.

“One shooting victim succumbed to injuries. He was a member of the Canadian Forces. Our thoughts and prayers are with him and his loved ones,” Ottawa police said in a statement.

The soldier has been identified by the National Post as Cpl. Nathan Cirillo, 24, a reservist based out of Hamilton, Ontario.

“Today a member of Hamilton’s own Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders was killed while performing the duties of a sentry at the National War Memorial,” Hamilton Mayor Bob Bratina said in a statement.

Two others were injured in the attack, one of them a security guard at Parliament’s Centre Block. Both are in stable condition.

One male gunman has also been confirmed dead.

Sources told The Canadian Press that Kevin Vickers, the sergeant-at-arms for the House of Commons and 29-year RCMP veteran, shot the gunman within Parliament.

CBS News said the gunman has been identified as Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, a Canadian born in 1982, citing unnamed U.S. government sources.

The RCMP and Ottawa police have not made a statement on the gunman’s identity.

“This is an ongoing joint police operation and there is no one in custody at this time,” is how Ottawa police and the RCMP described their joint investigation.

At an afternoon press conference, police said they could not yet confirm if the gunman who shot the soldier is the same as the one who was killed in Parliament.

Gilles Michaud, RCMP assistant commissioner, called it a “dynamic, unfolding situation.”

Police have been tight-lipped with information, leaving politicians to be the first to break news Wednesday.

“Gunman at Parliament’s Centre Block has been shot and killed,” Conservative MP Bernard Trottier tweeted at 10:30 a.m. Tory MP Bob Zimmer also reported the same.

Police expanded their perimeter throughout Wednesday afternoon and have confirmed there were shootings in two areas, the National War Memorial and in Parliament. Police said there was no shooting at the Rideau Centre, as was reported earlier during the chaotic situation.

Around 1:40 p.m., a security alert warned that all buildings in the Parliamentary precinct were still on lockdown.

“This means stay in your office, with the doors locked and away from the windows. If your door does not lock, find a way to barricade the door, if possible,” read the alert, circulated by email. “Do not open the door under any circumstances. Security Services has the required keys.”

Police asked citizens to not tweet the locations of the officers involved as the RCMP describes the situation as “ongoing.”

Ottawa Civic hospital received two new patients at about noon, one with gunshot wounds and the other with unknown injuries. Both were reported to be in stable condition.

The hospital would not comment on the condition of the soldier.

In video taken within Parliament at about 10 a.m., about a dozen gunshots can be heard within the halls.

Witnesses reported hearing shots in different corridors of Parliament and some fled the building by using the scaffolding erected for renovations.

Several medics and bystanders performed CPR on the soldier before he was taken away by ambulance.

“There is a shooter on the loose,” a police officer in the area told the Post‘s John Ivison shortly after 10 a.m.

The PMO said earlier Wednesday that Prime Minister Stephen Harper was safe and left Parliament Hill for an unknown location. Both NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair and Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau were reported safe.

One suspect was described as “5’9-5’10, overweight and wearing a dark jacket, with a white scarf around his face,” by Stuart Barnable, a Liberal staffer who said he witnessed the events from East Block.

Another eyewitness described the gunman as: “young, 30ish, Caucasian and male.”

A Dutch tourist said he heard at least four shots and saw the assailant running towards Parliament Hill, carrying a large rifle.

A Toyota Corolla, with no plates on it, was left outside of Parliament Hill. Multiple witnesses said they saw a gunman get out of it and attack the soldier. Bomb locating robots were deployed by police near the car.

Witness Scott Walsh told the Canadian Press he was working near the East Block when he saw a man with long, black hair, his face covered with a white scarf and wearing a black jacket.

“He had a double-barrelled shotgun, he was about five feet from me, and he ran right beside us, ran past the woman with the stroller and child,” he said.

Walsh said the gunman then hijacked a dark car at gunpoint and started driving towards the Peace Tower.

In a brief statement the PMO said: “Earlier today there was an attack at the National War Memorial and on Parliament Hill. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of those who were attacked.

Another PMO statement said that Harper had spoken to both Mulcair and Trudeau.

“The Prime Minister stated that facts are still being gathered [and] he condemned this despicable attack,” the PMO statement said.

Harper cancelled his much-anticipated Toronto engagement with Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, his spokesman Carl Vallée said around noon.

Harper and U.S. President Barack Obama spoke about the attack Wednesday afternoon.

“We’re all shaken,” by the attack, Obama later told reporters.