RCMP and Ottawa police briefed the nation Wednesday on the shooting that took place at and around Ottawa’s Parliament building. The situation, which the RCMP referred to as “ongoing,” “dynamic and unfolding,” was now focused mainly on the area immediately around Ottawa’s Parliament Hill, and Canadians were told to stay vigilant and report suspicious activities about anyone who may want to cause harm to Canadians.
“We’re asking the community to continue to be aware, to be vigilant, and to continue to report any suspicious activity that they deem serious–that could impact their safety,” said Ottawa police chief Charles Bordeleau at the briefing.
“In general terms, we’ve been asking the community to remain vigilant over potential acts that we’ve seen overseas and in in other countries. That is something that we’ve always asked Canadians to be aware of, and to be constantly vigilant, and to report any suspicious activity that may identify any individual that may want to cause harm to fellow Canadians.
“We’ve asked the public to stay away from the downtown core,” said Bordeleau. Police had set up a perimeter around Parliament Hill and were clearing the area. Bordeleau confirmed that the key area of focus was Parliament Hill and the immediate area around Parliament Hill.
Just before 10:00 AM Wednesday, shots were fired at locations around and including the Parliament building in Ottawa. The site of the first attack was the War Memorial, where one Canadian officer was shot. That officer died of his injuries. Another person was reported to have been injured by a stray bullet in the attack.
A barrage of shots was fired in Parliament in footage captured by the Globe and Mail. During the firefight, one RCMP officer was injured.
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The one male suspect confirmed to have died in the events is thought to have been the gunman involved in this firefight.
It had earlier been reported that there had been a shooting incident at the Rideau Center as well, but this was disconfirmed by the RCMP.
RCMP would not say whether there was currently more than one suspect in the crime, but they did repeat that the investigation was ongoing, and that they wanted to speak to witnesses.
When asked whether the dead suspect had been among the 19 people who had been identified by Canadian authorities as having been radicalized, the RCMP said it was too early to confirm. RCMP did comment on whether they would be investigating the 19 suspects.
“We basically draw all of our resources towards any threat that exists, and actively investigate those individuals,” said RCMP Assistant Commissioner Gilles Michaud.
RCMP would not comment on the weapon used in the incident, the identity of the suspect who had been killed, or whether he had driven his own car to the scene of the crime or had hijacked a car.
By James Haleavy