One killed in multiple shootings at Canadian parliament

Multiple incidents of shooting at the Canadian parliament building in Ottawa have led to the death of a soldier.

The shootings started at the national war memorial of Canada around 9:52 am (Canadian time), before the initial gunman moved to the parliament building.

Stephen Harper, the Canadian prime minister,  was reportedly in a meeting within the parliament as at the time of the shooting. He was immediately evacuated to the a safe place.

According to Reuters, Julian Fantino, veterans affairs minister, confirmed the safety of Harper, adding that the parliament was locked down.

Fantino said Kevin Vickers, parliament’s head of security, sergeant-at-arms, a former member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), had shot a suspect dead.

“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,” Fantino said.

“He did a great job and, from what I know, shot the gunman and he is now deceased.”

Marc Soucy, Ottawa police constable, on the other hand, said the police were searching for more than one gunman and no one had been arrested.

According to footages going viral online, a good number of police officers went into the building while a lot of gun shot sounds were heard within the building.

However, the whole event took a more dramatic turn as more police officers arrived the scene with bulletproof vest and armoured vehicles.

“We do not have the suspect in custody. You are in danger here,” he said.

“If your door does not lock, find a way to barricade the door, if possible. Do not open a door under any circumstances.

Mark Strahl, a member of parliament, tweeted from inside parliament:

“Very tense situation in Ottawa this morning. Multiple gun shots fired outside of our caucus room. I am safe and in lockdown. Unbelievable.”

The police said there could be more than one shooter from the three shooting incidents in the country’s capital city.

However, the country has raised its security alert level after the death of a Canadian soldier who was killed in a hit-and-run by a man suspected to have been radicalised.

There is a lot of speculations as regards the connection of the shooting to militant group, ISIL, with official sources saying it is too early to conclude.