Mobile phone footage from inside Ottawa’s Parliament Hill building shows police firing shots after reports of a gunman in the area. A soldier was shot and wounded at the city’s National War Memorial before the gunmanreportedly drove to the parliament building. Guardian
Gary Clement, a former Royal Canadian Mounted Police superintendent, says this is probably the highest terror level since 9/11. He says it’s “The dawn of a new era” for police and military to be prepared.
My colleague Jessica Glenza reports that RCMP has jurisdiction for security on Parliament Hill, though Ottawa police are now handling the invesatigation.
Ottawa police say there is one man in police custody, though police aren’t confirming whether he’s been arrested, my colleague Jessica Glenza reports. Police are looking for more suspects.
“There are numerous buildings that are on lockdown for safety reasons. There are police in all vicinities where suspects were seen running to,” said Ottawa Police Constable Chuck Benoit. He won’t confirm the man is a suspect.
“We don’t have an active shooter scene right now, but we don’t have everyone that we’re looking for,” said Ottawa Police Constable Chuck Benoit.
Jessica adds that the Royal Mounted Canadian Police, the military and Ottawa Police are on scene.
The Citizen also has police and witness descriptions of the shooter:
Witnesses said the man got back into the car, raced up Elgin Street and parked on Wellington Street in front of a gateway to the Hill.
The man has covered his face in a kind of scarf or mask, according to witnesses.
Police warned bystanders downtown that the shooter was still on the loose. The suspect is described as 5-9 to 5-10, overweight and wearing a dark jacket.
The Ottawa Citizen reports that the victim is a soldier, and quotes to MPs as saying they either heard multiple shots fired or had heard the shooter was walking through the halls.
Witneses to the War Memorial shooting described a man pull up in a car in front monument just before 10am, get out with a rifle and started firing shots at the soldiers standing guard. About five or six shots were fired.
The soldier fell on the steps at the foot of the Cenotaph, where bystanders and paramedics provided emergency medical care. The soldier, believed to be a man in his 30s, was taken to hospital by ambulance suffering from gunshots to his abdomen. His condition is unknown.
The Citizen also has a quick interview with a witness who saw the shooter running, saying the man had a large gun and looked “pretty determined”.
Laura Stone, a reporter for Canada’s Global News, says she saw a man “getting CPR loaded into an ambulance”, and that she’s spoken with a witness who described the shooter as having a “huge rifle”.
Police are searching through buildings and have placed the area on lockdown, keeping reporters, MPs and civilians in various areas together and apparently under heavy guard. Cars are being turned away, and witnesses say they heard “dozens” and “at least 30” shots.
A gunman has opened fire at Ottawa’s National War Memorial and is still at large, Canadian police report. One person was shot just before 10am local time and the shooter was seen running toward Parliament buildings, where more shots were fired.
Police, bystanders and soldiers aid a fallen soldier at the War Memorial in Ottawa. Photograph: Postmedia / Barcroft Media
Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper has left Parliament Hill and is safe, a spokesperson confirms. The Hill has been put on lockdown and police have converged on the area. Harper would have been very near where the shooter entered the main Parliament area, and the government and opposition both hold morning meetings on either side of Hall of Honour.
Details remain sketchy, and Ottawa Police Constable Chuck Benoit tells the Guardian’s Jessica Glenza they’re unable to confirm the identities of the victim or the shooter.
The memorial in relation to Parliament. Photograph: Google
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