Canadian Parliament Shooting Ottawa

There were two soldiers standing guard at the war memorial in Ottawa near Parliament, and a gunman shot one of them, a witness told CNN on Wednesday. Peter Henderson, a journalist, said other soldiers doing drills nearby ran to help the fallen soldier. Henderson said he knew the person shot was a soldier because of the ceremonial uniform the soldier was wearing.

There were "several shooting incidents in downtown Ottawa" on Wednesday morning, police said on Twitter. "Incidents occurred at National War Memorial, near the Rideau Centre and Parliament Hill." All Ottawa police buildings remain on lockdown and are closed to the public, police also said on Twitter.

There were "numerous gunmen" Wednesday morning at the Canada War Memorial shooting, said Marc Soucy of the Ottawa Police Service. Authorities are working to figure out if there were two or three gunmen, he said. Only one person was shot, Soucy said.

Wednesday morning's gunfire in the main Canadian Parliament building started in the foyer, and a second round of shooting happened about a minute later in a hallway or near the entrance to the Parliament's library, Ottawa journalist Josh Wingrove told CNN.

He said several officers had weapons drawn, and most of the dozens of shots that he heard appeared to have been fired by officers at the gunman.

When the shooting ended, a person was lying motionless on the ground near the library entrance, Wingrove said.

A "lone gunman is deceased" after shots were fired in Ottawa, Canada, a member of the nation's Parliament, Bob Zimmer, tweeted Wednesday.

However, after that tweet, there were reports that there may have been further shots fired at Canada's Parliament.

Earlier Wednesday police said that one person was shot at a war memorial near Parliament as media reports circulated that gunfire was also heard in Parliament.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper was evacuated from the building and is safe, his press secretary Carl Vallee tweeted.

story by CNN and NBC