The Canadian Parliament building was the scene of an armed attack today in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada which left a soldier shot and a suspect killed by the sergeant-at-arms:
Prime Minister Stephen Harper was with Julian Fantino in a caucus meeting when gunfire erupted at Parliament Hill, the Veterans Affairs minister told the Toronto Sun Wednesday.
Fantino says a sergeant-at-arms is a hero in his efforts to take down the gunman.
“All the details are not in but the sergeant-at-arms, a former Mountie, is the one that engaged the gunman, or one of them at least, and stopped this,” said Fantino. “He did a great job and from what I know shot the gunman and he is now deceased.”
Fantino said he was in the meeting with Harper and other cabinet ministers when all hell broke loose.
“We could hear the shots and it was not lost on any of us right away what it was,” he said. “For the first time in my 40 years of policing and public service did I ever feel vulnerable.”
Handguns are heavily regulated in Canada, with just under over 8,200 carry permits issued per year. Those are primarily restricted to those working in security, or those working in remote areas for protection from animals.
The firearm used by the attacker has not yet been identified.
Witnesses claim to have heard “at least” 30 shots.
The suspect—believed to be acting alone—injured a soldier standing guard at the National War Memorial before storming Parliament Hill. The soldier was taken by emergency medical services to a nearby hospital, and his condition is unknown.
At this time, there do not appear to be any more injuries, but the situation is very fluid, and facts are subject to change.
Two days ago two Candian soldiers were run over by a Muslim convert and ISIS sympatheizer in an apparent “lone wolf” terrorist attack. One of the soldiers died.
It is not yet known at this time if the attack on the National War Memorial and Parliament Hill was also an act of Islamist terrorism.
We’ll update this story once we have more concrete facts to report.
Update:
Police say there are 3 shooting scenes: Parliament, War Memorial, Rideau Centre. They happened close together, police say #cbcOTT #OTTnews
— CBC Ottawa (@CBCOttawa) October 22, 2014
All Canadian military bases are closed to outside traffic as a security precaution.
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