According to Canada’s The Globe and Mail, downtown Ottawa is on lockdown after heavy gunfire erupted in the halls of Parliament Hill’s Center Block, Wednesday morning, following the shooting of soldiers who had been guarding Canada’s National War Memorial.
?Several shootings? are being reported by the Ottawa police and are currently under investigation. Conflicting reports make it unclear, currently, just how many shooters may be involved against the core of Canada’s federal government.
A map of the shootings and sightings of gunman can be seen below:
Footage can be seen below of authorities returning heavy gunfire in one federal building. The video had been uploaded to YouTube just after 11 a.m., EST. In the video, police responders can be seen making their way through the building toward a shooter before bountiful gunfire erupts. One lawmaker stated more than 30 rounds were fired inside Center Block, though judging by the video, it’s easy to estimate many more than that.
ABC reports that authorities are looking for up to three shooters. One witness told Canada’s CBC that a gunman had run from Parliament, jumped over a wall, and hijacked a car at gunpoint. The driver reportedly exited the vehicle safely and the shooter was seen to head off toward the Center Block of Parliament Hill ? the location of senior government official offices.
In response to the shootings, all Canadian military bases have been put on lock down, as has the U.S. Embassay, according to CTV. Canada had also raised its terrorism alert level earlier after the shooting at the War Memorial. The gunman responsible for that shooting is suspected to be a ?radicalized jihadist,? but confirmation on that has yet to be shown.
Spokesperson for the Public Safety Ministry Jean-Christophe de Le Rue, stated, according to AFP:
“This level means that intelligence has indicated that an individual or group within Canada or abroad has the intent and capability to commit an act of terrorism.”
Senior FBI and Homeland Security in the U.S. have been notified, as has the White House and President Obama.
A long list of tweets regarding the shootings can be found here.
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H/T: theglobeandmail.com / (Featured image courtesy of YouTube)
Dylan Hock is a poet, novelist, professor and social activist. He is published in a number of little magazines and has an essay on the muzzling of Ezra Pound included in the anthology ?Star Power: The Impact of Branded Celebrity?. Currently, he also writes and edits for If You Only News, Addicting Info, Green Action News, and Take 10. Follow him on Ello, Google+, LinkedIn, RebelMouse and Goodreads. Hire him for freelance writing and editing work on Elance.
