By Brett Daniel Shehadey
Special Contributor for In Homeland Security
Is Canada under a larger and on-going string of terrorist attacks, or is this a separate mass-shooting incident?
On Monday, Martin Couture-Rouleau intentionally ran down two members of the Canadian military with his car, killing one person and injuring one other. Couture-Rouleau was being investigated for radicalization by jihadists. He was shot after a high-speed chase.
Late this morning, a military guard at the National War Memorial was shot and killed in what appears to be a coordinated attack with multiple assailants. The gunman entered the Parliament building and fired multiple rounds (some say 30 or more in or near the Parliament building). Parliament security head, Sergeant-at-Arms Kevin Vickers, shot and killed one suspected gunman.
Police evacuated people from the building, secured the area and pursued the attackers (possibly two or three). Accounts from legislators and staff in Parliament indicated efforts of barricading themselves inside and huddling in a room together or taking cover at multiple locations.
One suspect hijacked a car on site, abandoned it and ran past the Centre Block building: “He was wearing blue pants and a black jacket and he had a double barreled shotgun and he ran up the side of this building here and hijacked a car at gunpoint,” construction worker Scott Walsh told Reuters.
Witnesses reported that there was gunfire in the House of Commons as well as outside the government center at a nearby mall.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who was also there giving a speech, was evacuated to safety
A police command post was set up on Parliament Hill at ground zero and a growing defensive barrier pushed out from the government buildings.
Most of downtown Ottawa remains in lockdown as Canadian security forces engage in a man-hunt for the second or remaining suspects.
Details are still forthcoming. The attacks will test softer domestic intelligence surveillance and counter-terrorism policies there.
President Obama was briefed on the situation and Washington is coordinating security efforts to assist Ottawa as needed.
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