Parliament Hill shooting: Soldier killed, gunman dead as violence grips Ottawa

A Canadian honour guard who witnesses said was shot twice “point blank” by a gunman at the National War Memorial in Ottawa has died, while police continue combing a locked-down national capital for other potential threats. The unnamed reservist from Hamilton, Ont., was killed by a masked, rifle-wielding gunman who then moved up the street to launch an attack on nearby Parliament Hill, in which at least two people were injured. A security guard is believed to be among those who were wounded in Parliament’s Centre Block, where an assailant was shot dead by the sergeant-at-arms of the House of Commons. No details about the second injured person were immediately available. However, security staff on the Hill have told some MPs’ offices they believe there may be as many as three shooters. Heavily armed tactical officers could be seen searching rooftops in the immediate parliamentary precinct.

Police would only say they are investigating ‘several shooting incidents in downtown Ottawa.’

The Canadian Press reports

Ottawa police confirmed they had a call at 9:52 a.m. with a report of shots fired. Following the reports, police began herding bystanders off the street into a major office building and warned people to stay away from the windows. Prime Minister Stephen Harper was rushed away from the building to an undisclosed location, and the U.S. Embassy, adjacent to Parliament Hill, was also locked down as U.S. President Barack Obama was briefed on the ongoing incident. The incident comes just two days after two Canadian soldiers were run over—one of them fatally—in Quebec by a man with jihadist sympathies. Tony Zobl, 35, witnessed the soldier being gunned down at the War Memorial from his fourth-floor office window directly above the monument.

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 honour guard in front of the Cenotaph point blank, twice. It looked like the honour guard was trying to reach for the barrel of the gun.

Tony Zobl, who witnessed the soldier being shot to death at the War Memorial

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