'Parliament Hill Is Under Attack' - Atlantic Mobile

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Government buildings on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada, are on lockdown Wednesday morning as police continue to search for a suspect after a series of shootings in the heart of the capital. One member of the Canadian Armed Force was killed, as was one of the gunmen, but at least one other shooter is believed to be involved and on the loose.

The incident began after a shooter opened fire just before 10 a.m. EDT, killing one military officer. Reports indicate the victim is a Canadian military member who was standing guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, near the National War Memorial. He was taken to the hospital with injuries, where he later died. Two other patients were taken to the hospital and are in stable condition.

Police officers arrived quickly to lock down Parliament, asking anyone remaining in the building and surrounding area to lay on the ground as authorities search the building. The CBC reports dozens of soldiers are patrolling the exterior of the building.

An eyewitness told The Globe and Mail that the shooter “got away” after the first shooting at the Memorial, and described the suspect as having long, dark hair. Another eyewitness told the CBC that the shooter is male, tall, thin, wearing a black-and-white headscarf, and carrying a long gun.

The suspect's car remains on site, parked at the entrance of the War Memorial. It did not have license plates. A third witness believed that there are two suspects, one wearing a long brown coat with black hair and a bandana, and a second who stayed in the car.

"We were standing nearby the monuments, we were waiting there for a city tour and I heard four [rapid] shots," that witness told the CBC. "Suddenly I saw a small guy with long black hair, looked like a Native American to me, and he ran away after the shots toward Parliament Hill. Then I saw some military running to the monuments then to Parliament Hill chasing the man." This witness confirmed that the shooter targeted a monument guard and that the gun was quite long.

Others report indicate that there were as many as 30 to 40 shots; however, this could be due to an exchanging of gunfire with police. In a video taken from inside the Parliament Hill building obtained by The Globe and Mail, roughly 24 shots are heard. "The video has too many shots to determine the type of weapon. Not unlikely it is a rifle though," a member of the Canadian military told me on the condition of anonymity. "You don't pre-plan an attack like this with only a pistol effective at a range of 50 meters."

At 10:53 a.m., a reporter for the CBC was told that gunmen were on the roof of a building on the Hill with "brandished weapons." That reporter also noted that there is a heavily wooded area near Parliament Hill, and at least one gunman appears to be moving east away from the shooting location.

Just before noon, another shooting was reported across the river from Parliament Hill at the Rideau Centre. Police confirmed that shooting, but have not commented on any injuries or deaths at the scene.

There have been three shootings in total today, all within a mile of one another: Parliament Hill, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and Rideau Centre Mall. An employee at Kiehl's, a shop within the mall, who answered the phone said they were calm and listening to the news. They said employees were "fine" following the shooting. An evacuation plan has not yet been announced by authorities for those within the mall.

Members of Parliament were meeting in their party caucuses when the shooting broke out. Some staff and members of the media inside Parliament Hill were allowed to leave, ducking while running out of the building. Prime Minister Stephen Harper's safety was confirmed early on, and he was taken away from Parliament Hill. Harper was set to meet with Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai in Toronto today, but all his public events have been canceled.

The University of Ottawa has been put on lockdown, as have public schools in the area. Military bases across the entire country have been closed to the public. The Canadian Embassy in Washington, D.C. is also under lockdown as a precaution. An all-clear has not been given as police and military on the scene stress the ongoing danger of the situation.

Authorities in Canada have not yet commented on whether they believe the shooting today was an act of terrorism. The CBC has reported that witnesses heard shouts of "Iraq" throughout the buildings, however, police were unable to comment on or confirm this claim. Jean-Christophe de Le Rue, a spokesman for the public safety minister, told the Associated Press that the domestic terror threat level was increased from low to medium just hours before the shooting occurred, due to "an increase in general chatter from radical Islamist organizations."

The Canadian military member I spoke with provided more information on the memorial: "A few weeks before November 11 (Veterans Day, known also in Canada as Remembrance Day), we send soldiers to ceremoniously guard the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from World War II, the War Memorial. So the soldier that got shot had his rifle with him and was standing at attention, no means for defense at all—rifle obviously unloaded," He also speculated on the potential motive of the shooter, "The irony that his blood was on the War Memorial is unbelievable. It's heavily symbolic if it is terrorism related."

Over the weekend, a hit-and-run accident in Quebec, which resulted in the death of one military member and the injury of another, is being investigated as a a possible terrorist incident. Police later shot and killed the suspect, who authorities believe was "radicalized."

At the White House, press secretary Josh Earnest said President Obama had been briefed on the incident in the Oval Office on Wednesday and sent the “thoughts and prayers of everyone here at the White House” to those affected in Canada.“The details are still sketchy, which is not unusual in a chaotic situation like this one,” Earnest said. He said officials had reached out to schedule a call between Obama and Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

The police department will offer comments to the press today at 1:20 p.m. ET.

This story will be updated as more information becomes available.

Polly Mosendz is an associate editor at The Atlantic, where she covers breaking news.