Soldier, security guard shot in Parliament Hill attack

OTTAWA — A gunman opened fire at the National War Memorial, wounding a soldier, then moved to nearby Parliament Hill and wounded a security guard before he was shot, reportedly by Parliament's sergeant-at-arms.

Despite the shooting of the suspect, police and soldiers continued a chaotic hunt, leading to speculation there was more than one suspect.

“As to the number of suspects, we don't know,” Const. Marc Soucy of Ottawa police said Tuesday morning.

Ottawa police confirmed they had a call at 9:52 a.m. with a report of shots fired. Paramedics performed CPR on the soldier at the memorial and he was taken to hospital. But there was no word of his condition.

Witness Alain Merizier said one suspect was carrying a hunting rifle. The suspect had dark hair, was wearing civilian clothes and driving a black car, Merizier said.

Police set up an ever-expanding cordon around the Hill, shutting down streets and pushing pedestrians and journalists further back as additional police vehicles and officers flooded into the scene. A police command post was set on Metcalfe St. across from Parliament Hill.

Earlier, in the minutes after the incident, a motorcade that possibly contained Prime Minister Stephen Harper, raced along Wellington St. away from Parliament Hill. A spokesman said Harper was safe and no longer in the vicinity of Parliament.

Reporters and parliamentary staff reported dozens of shots in the hallways about 45 minutes after the incident. But by late morning, the hunt for an assailant or assailants was still under way.

Police cars and emergency vehicles were clustered at the foot of the Peace Tower and the Centre Block was being evacuated. RCMP warned that anyone in downtown Ottawa should stay away from windows and roofs.

It was caucus day for the federal parties, so members of Parliament and senators were locked down in the hallways near the Commons. Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau was safe and in a secure location, said Kate Purchase, a Liberal spokesperson. NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair was also reported to be safe.

Joshua Johnston, co-owner of Atwill-Morin, a stone masonry company, was being hailed as a hero after he shepherded as many as 25 Parliament Hill workers to safety.

With as many as six police sharpshooters massed outside, they clambered to safety and took shelter behind rocks.

“We didn't know where (the shooter) was or how many there were there,” he said.

“But it sounded like he was just down the hall.”

New Democrat MP Charlie Angus was in the weekly party caucus meeting when he and his colleagues heard several rounds of heavy gunfire he said sounded as if it was coming from right outside the door.

Angus said MPs and staffers tried to barricade the door with tables and lay down on the floor as they heard what he said was at least two rounds of gunshots followed by another few shots.

“People put up furniture. We put tables against the door. We lay down. You’ve never been through this before. You don’t know what the routine is other than what you have seen in the movies, so we didn’t know if someone was going to be able to try and get in,” Angus said.

“We were on the floor and then security came and they were very, very, very serious,” Angus said by telephone from his office on Sparks St., after having evacuated the building.

“They told us to run, to stay down and to stay along the walls,” Angus said.

Angus said three NDP MPs — Lysane Blanchette-Lamothe, Anne Minh-Thu Quach and Rosanne DorÉ Lefebvre — were worried about their children, who were in the building, and did not want to leave without them.

All three children are safe.

Conservative MP Maurice Vellacott says his staff was told by Commons security there were as many as three gunmen; one dead.

He was escorting a group of parents and children through security one floor below main entrance when he heard a gunshot.

Security staff quickly hustled the group out of the building through a tunnel to East Block. He said several of the group remain under lockdown in East Block.

The incident comes just two days after two Canadian soldiers were run over — and one of them killed — in Quebec by a man with jihadist sympathies.

The incident on Parliament Hill was an unprecedented breach of security, according to eyewitnesses.

With files from Star staff and wire services