(Newswire.net — October 22, 2014) — Ottawa, Canada — Eyewitnesses report that a gunman seen firing a military style assault rifle at the Ottowa War Memorial fled to the Canadian Parliament building.
“Shots fired at War Memorial at 9:52am today; one person injured,” Ottawa Police tweeted.
At least one soldier is confirmed killed in the attack, and mounting unconfirmed reports indicate that the body count is rising. Additional shots were heard from within the Parliament building. One Member of Parliament announced that a gunman had been killed.
Speculation is that more than one shooter may be involved as police search from room to room inside the locked down building.
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper “is safe and has left Parliament Hill”, according to an unofficial post on Twitter.
Although motivation behind the attack is unknown at this time, speculation is that the attacks may be linked to another attack this week that seemed to be motivated by Middle East politics. Earlier this month, Canada announced plans to join the US-led campaign of air strikes against Islamic State (ISIL) militants in Iraq.
Yesterday a radicalized Muslim convert was killed by Quebec police after deliberately hitting two soldiers with his car, killing one and injuring the other. A Canadian MP said it was a “terrible act of violence against our country”.
On Monday, Canada raised its terrorism threat level in response to unidentified intelligence indicating that there would be continued reaction to the Canadian participation in the Alliance against the Islamic State.