Three shooting scenes confirmed in Ottawa; one shooter dead, at least one on the loose

OTTAWA – Ottawa police confirm there were three shooting incidents in the downtown core Wednesday morning.  Police confirm the incidents occurred at the National War Memorial, near the Rideau Centre and at Parliament Hill.

One shooter has been shot and killed, and there is at least one other shooter on the loose.

The majority of the downtown core is under lockdown. Police are asking that you avoid the area.

A gunman opened fire at the National War Memorial, wounding a soldier, then moved to nearby Parliament Hill and wounded a security guard before he was shot, reportedly by Parliament’s sergeant-at-arms.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper was rushed away from the Hill to an undisclosed location, officials in his office said.

Cabinet minister Tony Clement tweeted that at least 30 shots were heard inside the building, where Conservative and Liberal MPs were holding their weekly caucus meetings.

The NDP caucus was evacuated along with the Liberal Senate caucus.

A witness reported that a man drove up in a black vehicle, got out carrying a rifle and ran into the Centre Block, the seat of the House of Commons under the Peace Tower.

The man was dressed in black with a scarf wrapped around his face.

Witnesses reported hearing shots fired in several different corridors. Some people fled the building by scrambling down scaffolding erected for renovations.

The incident comes just two days after two Canadian soldiers were run over, and one of them killed, in Quebec by a man with jihadist sympathies.

 

 

Meantime, Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson released a statement:

As with all Ottawa residents and all Canadians, I am shocked and saddened by what has happened in the last hour here in the nation’s capital.

Our thoughts and prayers are with those injured.

Ottawa Paramedics and Fire Services provided first response to those injured and Ottawa Police Services are engaged with other law enforcement agencies at this time in pursuit of the criminal or criminals who have carried out this vicious and unwarranted attack.

Residents will be kept informed as events unfold.

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