A gunman shot and wounded a soldier in Ottawa and then entered the country's parliament buildings chased by police, with at least 30 shots fired, according to media and eyewitness reports on Wednesday.
Apparently, witnesses reported seeing a gunman firing at the Ottawa War Memorial and then running toward the government buildings, where more shots were heard.The Canadian media reported that a soldier has been wounded in the attack.
According to New York Times, Canadian Soldier Killed in Attack at Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
Read: Shooting locks down Canadian parliament; one suspect reported dead
An unidentified gunman killed a soldier guarding the National War Memorial and then entering the nearby Parliament building. He fired multiple shots and police officers rushed to secure the building as reported by New York Times.
Reuters reported that Prime Minister Stephen Harper had been inside Parliament at the time of the shooting but was evacuated safely. The entire area, known as Parliament Hill, was placed on lockdown as police reinforcements arrived. Witnesses reported seeing a man running toward the government buildings, where more shots were fired inside.
Several gunshots were fired outside Canada’s parliament in the capital Ottawa on Wednesday. The incident took place at the National War Memorial in Ottawa, just steps away from the nation’s parliament.
Witnesses reported seeing a man running toward the government buildings, where more shots were fired inside, according to witnesses. A soldier has been wounded in the attack, a Canadian media report said.
The incident came hours after Canada raised its terror threat level from low to medium. A soldier was killed in a hit-and-run earlier this week.
“Shots fired at War Memorial at 9.52 a.m. today; one person injured,” Ottawa Police tweeted on Wednesday as a witness reported seeing authorities search from room to room for the suspect.
Additional shots were fired inside the parliament buildings, multiple news agencies and eyewitnesses reported, according to the BBC.
A government official earlier said the raised threat level was in response to an increase in online “general chatter” from radical groups including Islamic State and al-Qaeda.
Ministry spokesman Jean-Christophe de Le Rue said on Tuesday that the increased level “means that intelligence has indicated that an individual or group within Canada or abroad has the intent and capability to commit an act of terrorism”.
On Tuesday, a man was killed by Quebec Police after deliberately hitting two soldiers in his car, killing one and injuring another.
A Minister said it was a “terrible act of violence against our country”.
Read the updates here:
The incident came hours after Canada raised its terror threat level from low to medium. A soldier was killed in a hit-and-run earlier in the week as reported by the BBC.
Ottawa Police tweeted on Wednesday as a witness reported seeing authorities search from room to room for the suspect, "Shots fired at War Memorial at 9:52am today; one person injured."
Two Canadian MPs later said a gunman had been killed, but that has yet to be confirmed and the parliament buildings are still on lockdown.
Earlier, Ottawa Police have told there could be more than one shooter.
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper is safe and has left Parliament Hill.
Senior government member Tony Clement also took to Twitter to say shots were fired near an in-progress cabinet meeting in parliament.
Just this month, Canada announced plans to join the US-led campaign of air strikes against Islamic State (ISIS) militants in Iraq.
With agency inputs
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