Canadian authorities are still working to secure Parliament buildings in Ottawa, a couple of hours after a reservist performing guard duty at the National War Memorial was shot and killed Wednesday, by a gunman who was reportedly later shot and killed inside Canada's Parliament building.

No details about the identity of the soldier has been given, although initial reports said he was from Hamilton.

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The incident has led to police locking down Parliament and evacuating the Prime Minister and members of Parliament, and cordoning off a large area within the periphery of Parliament Hill. 

At about 1 p.m., Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers in SWAT uniforms and armed with assault rifles were all over the area.

MPs emerging from Parliament Hill have been tweeting developments immediately after shots were fired inside the halls of Parliment at around 1 p.m., and while evacuation was going on. Other tweets came from tourists and local residents who witnessed the first few seconds after the soldier guarding the War Memorial was shot, reportedly by a man armed with a rifle who then commandeered a car and drove to the steps of Parliament Hill's Centre Block.

Minutes later, shots were heard inside the halls of Parliament.

CBC reports a statement by MP Kevin Lamoureux, who had just arrived at Parliament for a caucus:

"I just personally thought it was like a fire alarm or something of this nature. So I casually took my time getting out of the room. And then, upon exiting the room, I hear this rapid gun fire and it was very, very loud and instantaneously, you know that there's something seriously wrong here and you could see people in a little bit more of a hurry to exit. At the time, I thought maybe it was just down the hall or around the corner because it was so, so loud." 

Later Wednesday, Ottawa Civic Hospital confirmed that three people have been brought in, two of them stable, and one with a gunshot wound. The hospital referred calls on the status of the three to the Department of National Defense.

Ottawa police confirmed shots were also fired in three locations: the war memorial, inside Centre Block and near the Rideau Centre shopping complex east of Parliament Hill, although earlier reports of shots inside the mall have been denied by police. The downtown area remains in police lockdown.

RCMP authorities are preparing to conduct a press briefing to report on what had transpired within the last hour.

Earlier, CNN reported that the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, increased its alert posture in response to the shootings. The increased alert means that it has increased the number of planes on a higher alert status ready to respond if needed. NORAD and Canadian authorities are in constant contact, CNN was told.

TagsOttawa, Canadian parliament