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Canadian parliament put on lockdown after series of shootings Canadian parliament put on lockdown after series of shootings
(35 minutes later)
Canada’s national parliament building was placed on lockdown on Wednesday after a series of shootings caused turmoil in the heart of the capital city, Ottawa. The Canadian capital, Ottawa, was thrown into turmoil on Wednesday when a gunman shot dead a soldier guarding the national war memorial and then stormed into the parliament building, where he was killed.
The incident began when a gunman shot and killed a soldier who was guarding the national war memorial, outside the parliament building, just before 10am, police said. In scenes unlike any Canada has witnessed in its modern history, MP’s barricaded themselves into a parliamentary caucus room by piling furniture against the doors, while others fled the building by clambering down scaffolding erected for repair work. Police went from room to room in parliament, breaking down some doors to check if anyone was hiding inside.
Moments later, a reporter captured video of an apparent shootout inside the halls of parliament. Soon after, people were being moved away from a third scene at a shopping mall, the Rideau Centre. Police could not confirm whether the mall was the scene of a shooting. Initial reports suggested there were more gunmen at large, with a third shooting outside a shopping centre, fuelling the air of panic. But that report was later retracted and the Ottawa police chief, Charles Bourdeleau, said it was unclear whether the dead gunman had acted alone or with accomplices.
There were reports that the parliament’s sergeant-at-arms shot and killed a gunman inside the parliament building. By noon, police said they were searching for as many as three suspects, but later backtracked. The Canadian prime minister, Stephen Harper, was hustled away from Parliament Hill and was safe, a spokesperson confirmed. Cabinet minister Tony Clement tweeted that at least 30 shots were heard inside parliament, where Conservative and Liberal MPs were holding their weekly caucus meetings.
“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,” a police statement said. It confirmed that a suspect was dead. “This is an ongoing joint police operation and there is no one in custody at this time,” it said. The sergeant-at-arms, Kevin Vickers, who normally plays only a ceremonial role in parliament, reportedly shot the gunman who had just shot at the soldiers guarding Ottawa’s war memorial, a few hundred years away.
Video taken by a reporter for the Globe and Mail showed police officers walking slowly through parliament toward the entrance with guns drawn. The sound of a gunshot ran out, followed by the sounds of multiple shots. A member of parliament, Craig Scott, tweeted: “MPs and Hill staff owe their safety, even lives, to Sergeant at Arms Kevin Vickers who shot attacker just outside the MPs’ caucus rooms.”
Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper left Parliament Hill and was safe, a spokesperson confirmed. 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. Justin Ling, a freelance political reporter, speaking from inside the parliament building, said: “I was heading back down to my office when one uniformed police officer tore past. To my right, the stairwell door burst open. One member ofparliament frantically told me that there was active shooter in the building. I took off down the hall, into a nearby room.”
Cabinet minister Tony Clement tweeted that at least 30 shots were heard inside parliament, where Conservative and Liberal MPs were holding their weekly caucus meetings. Ling reported multiple shots inside the building. “At one point, standing next to the fire escape, we heard a series of loud bangs. Five or six in rapid succession. We scattered around the room and took cover. A few were loudly praying. A few others were laughing nervously,” he said.
People downtown were warned to stay away from windows, doors and thearea generally, as police continued to expand their search. The Ottawa city centre was emptied as some workers fled their offices while others were advised to lock themselves in and stay away from the windows. Squads of police in body armour made their way through the streets with their guns drawn searching for any assailants still at large, as reports spread of a third shooting incident near a shopping centre.
Police were 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. The Globe and Mail news website reported a police officer yelling to journalists to move away from the Rideau shopping centre, shouting: “Move down! There’s an active shooter! If you want to die, stay here. If you want to live, keep moving!”
Officials cancelled two events in Toronto honoring Pakistani teenager and Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai, including one in which she was supposed to receive honorary Canadian citizenship. The teenager was shot in the head by a Taliban gunman in 2012 for calling for schooling for girls. The attack appears to have started at about 9.50 am when a black-outfitted gunman drove up in a car to Ottawa’s tomb of the unknown soldier, a bronze monument and cenotaph for the Canadian war dead .
Canada had raised its domestic terror threat level from low to medium on Tuesday because of “an increase in general chatter from radical Islamist organisations,” said Jean-Christophe de Le Rue, a spokesman for the public safety minister. “I looked out the window and saw a shooter, a man dressed all in black with a kerchief over his nose and mouth and something over his head as well, holding a rifle and shooting an honor guard in front of the cenotaph point-blank, twice,” a witness, Tony Zobl, told the Canadian Press news agency.
The Associated Press contributed to this report “The honour guard dropped to the ground, and the shooter kind of raised his arms in triumph holding the rifle.”
Pictures taken of the site showed a woman trying to keep the soldier alive with mouth-to-mouth recussitation but he died shortly after being taken to hospital. He was reported to be a reservist serving with the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders.
“This is a sad and tragic day for our city and our country,” Ottawa’s mayor, Jim Watson, said in a press conference after the shooting. “Our city has lived through tragedy before. This is a different kind of tragedy – its causes not yet known.”
The shooting happened as Canada was already tense, two days after Martin Couture-Rouleau, a recent convert to jihadist ideology, ran down two soldiers with his car, killing one, before being shot dead by police. The government had previously confiscated his passport when he had attempted to fly to Turkey, where he was suspected on trying to join Islamic extremists fighting in Syria.
On Tuesday, Canada raised its domestic terror threat level from low to medium because of what the public safety ministry described as “an increase in general chatter from radical Islamist organizations.” The raising of the threat level followed a decision by the Canadian government to take part in the allied air campaign against the Islamic State extremist group in Iraq and deployed two warplanes and a refueller aircraft to flight sorties from Kuwait. Canada already has a small number of special forces soldiers in Iraq.
After the shooting started in central Ottawa on Wednesday, Canada’s prime minister, Stephen Harper was driven away from Ottawa’s Parliament Hill where he had been due to meet with the Pakistani children’s rights campaigner and Nobel laureate, Malala Yousafzai. Yousafzai, who was shot in the head by a Taliban gunman in 2012 for attending school, was due to have been awarded honorary Canadian citizenship.
President Obama conferred with Harper by telephone shortly after the attack. “Canada is one of the closest friends and allies of the United States,” the White House press secretary, Josh Earnest said “Officials inside the US government have been in touch with the Canadian government to offer their assistance, and that includes in the White House.”