Ottawa police ease city lockdown after gunfight kills parliament shooter

Prime minister Stephen Harper – now off Parliament Hill – has cancelled a meeting with Malala Yousafzai later today, and will address the situation, the Ottawa Citizen’s Dylan Robertson tweets.

Reporters for CTV are relaying the situation at the Rideau Center, saying that the police “ran in with guns raised”.

The reporter says she’s “not sure if they were chasing anybody. They are crouched in several positions. It’s unclear who they’re chasing and where that potential gunman is. They’re telling us it’s not safe, they keep telling people to move away from the area.”

Nearby, police are continuing to evacuate people out of areas deemed high risk:

CNN’s Jason Morrell provides perspective on the three incidents in relation to each other:

Police are looking for as many as three suspects, Ottawa Police Constable Chuck Benoit tells the Guardian’s Jessica Glenza.

Beloit says that one person is in custody, but could not confirm details of what’s happening at the Rideau Center or about what is known of the suspect. Globe and Mail reporter Kathryn Carlson says people are being moved away from the mall.

The US embassy, about four blocks away from Parliament Hill, is also in lockdown, according to radio journalist Mark Day.

Canadian police say shots have been fired at a mall near Parliament, AP reports.

There are three incidents that police are trying to get a handle on: at the war memorial, inside parliament and now at the Rideau Center. The Center, a few blocks east of the Hill, is in lockdown along with most of downtown Ottawa.

The soldier shot in the first incident is in care at Ottawa Civic Hospital.

Canada’s minister of veterans affairs tweets his gratitude to the man who reportedly shot a suspected gunman inside a parliament building.

Canadian authorities will have to coordinate a diverse set of law enforcement agencies to lock down the area and find any remaining suspects. Guardian contributor Colin Horgan breaks down the jurisdictions of police:

Royal Canadian Mounted Police have jurisdiction over Parliament Hill and outside its buildings, and share authority here with House of Commons security and Senate security – ie are technically three jurisdictions on the Hill itself.

Off the Hill, it’s Ottawa police, provincial police if a suspect is on a highway or bridge, and Gatineau police should a suspect cross into Quebec.

Canadian press report that one suspected gunman has been shot, and CBC and the Ottawa Citizen report that the suspect is dead.

“We are actively looking for suspects right now, so we don’t know if it is suspect one or suspects plural,” Ottawa Police Constable Marc Soucy told Reuters.

The area of investigation is growing, and police confirm what they told the Guardian: “they are actively looking for one or more suspects”.