Attack on Ottawa: One Soldier Killed, One Suspect Dead
JOSH WINGROVE, STEVEN CHASE, BILL CURRY AND JILL MAHONEY
OTTAWA AND TORONTO — The Globe and Mail
Wednesday, Oct. 22 2014, 9:59 AM EDT
The attack on Parliament Hill’s Centre Block and the National War Memorial has left one Canadian soldier and one male suspect dead.
Soldier shot at the National War Memorial has died
One suspect confirmed dead
Prime Minister safe and "not on Parliament Hill"
Downtown Ottawa and federal government buildings in lockdown
ON THE SCENE The scene inside: Gunfire breaks out on a busy caucus day
Several hours later, Ottawa Police and RCMP officers were still searching Parliament Hill and officials declined to say whether the unidentified gunman acted alone.
“We’re still in the process of an active operation right now. We’re treating this very seriously with the RCMP in identifying and clearing Parliament Hill to render it safe,” Ottawa Police Chief Charles Bordeleau told a mid-afternoon media briefing.
Buildings in Ottawa’s downtown core remained under lockdown and police enforced a perimeter around Parliament Hill after the gunman fired on soldiers guarding Canada’s main war memorial and gunfire rang through the halls of Centre Block.
Asked if the attack had caught police off guard, Gilles Michaud, commanding officer of the RCMP’s national division, said: “I think that from our reaction, it caught us by surprise.”
Still, he said “all available and necessary resources were activated and deployed immediately” and will remain in place as long as necessary.
Gunfire erupted at the National War Memorial around 9:52 a.m. (ET), then moved to Parliament Hill’s Centre Block. The Parliament Hill shooting was captured on this video by a Globe reporter. One Parliament Hill guard was shot in the leg and is recovering in hospital.
THE SHOOTING: FEDERAL BUILDINGS IN LOCKDOWN, POLICE ON ALERT
The outbreak of violence on Wednesday sent MPs into hiding and all federal government buildings into lockdown.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper was with Veterans Affairs Minister Julian Fantino in a caucus meeting when the gunfire began, Mr. Fantino told the Toronto Sun Wednesday. Fantino credits a sergeant-at-arms for taking down a gunman. "All the details are not in but the sergeant-at-arms, a former Mountie, is the one that engaged the gunman, or one of them at least, and stopped this," Fantino said.
Mr. Fantino also praised the RCMP for protecting the Prime Minister and other parliamentarians. "They were so professional," he told the Toronto Sun of the RCMP. "Incredible."
Mr. Harper will make a statement later today, said his communications director Jason MacDonald, who added that the Prime Minister “is safe and not on Parliament Hill” and was being briefed by security officials.
THE LOCKDOWN: OTTAWANS WARNED TO STAY CLEAR OF DOWNTOWN
RCMP are urging people in Ottawa not to head downtown, and for those in tall buildings around the downtown core to avoid windows and stay inside.
One source said the RCMP was said to be sending reinforcements from Toronto to assist in the investigation in the Ottawa shootings.
Parliament Hill staff were issued a security warning to stay away from doors and windows, lock their doors and, if doors would not lock, to barricade them. "Do not open a door under any circumstances," the security alert said.
Public building close to Parliament buildings have also established lockdowns, including the University of Ottawa, where personnel went door to door to tell people to stay put. Schools in the downtown core were also locked down. However, by early afternoon, students and faculty at the University of Ottawa were no longer fully respecting the lockdown and had started to leave campus.
The Rideau Centre mall, a major shopping centre a block from the war memorial, was also in lockdown after police initially reported shots being fired nearby. However, the police later said that no shots were fired near the mall.
THE WAR MEMORIAL: 'MOVE DOWN! THERE'S AN ACTIVE SHOOTER!'
Police officers at the cenotaph, which is cordoned with yellow tape and bordered by cruisers, ordered bystanders and journalists to move farther away from the crime scene, toward the Rideau Centre mall.
Tensions ran high as the officers yelled at journalists to get back around 10:30 a.m. (ET), with one officer shouting: " Move down! There's an active shooter! If you want to die, stay here. If you want to live, keep moving!”
Liberal MP John McKay said he was just taking off his jacket about to go into the caucus room when he heard "Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop!" He assumed the sounds were construction noise, but then security guards rushed down the halls ordering everybody out.
Mr. McKay said the MPs followed security out the back door and then they "huddled out back by the monuments" for a while. "That building is the people's building ... I'd hate to think of us shutting it down because of both paranoia and legitimate fears."
A tourist from the Netherlands, Yan Legtenborg, told reporters that a man with a long rifle was "running like hell that way... to Parliament Hill."
"We didn't expect this in Canada," he said.
EYEWITNESS: 'IT SOUNDED LIKE A SHOTGUN'
One man watched the scene unfold from a third-floor office that faces the war memorial. “It was unreal,” said the witness, who asked not to be identified. “I heard the shot and looked out the window. . . The shooter came from the west side and aimed right at the young guy that was standing guard and shot him twice. I think he missed with the first shot; it sounded like a shotgun.”
He saw the young soldier fall. No one returned fire. Other guards and police converged on the victim. The scene was “mayhem,” he said.
The dead soldier, whose name is being withheld pending notification of his family, was a member of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, a regiment of Reserve Forces based in Hamilton, according to a statement from Hamilton Mayor Bob Bratina.
Major-General Christopher Coates, deputy commander continental at Canadian Joint Operations Command, extended condolences to the member’s family.
“Canadian armed forces bases and establishments are currently taking precautions appropriate to their environment to ensure the safety and security of personnel and infrastructure,” he said.
THE CHATEAU LAURIER: GERMAN DELEGATION SAW DRAMA UNFOLD
Carol Devine, owner of Devine Fine Jewellery on the hotel's main floor, says people are being told they can't leave. "It's really weird. I feel the same today as I did on Sept 11 [2001]," she said. "I was working that day here, there were people stuck here from the U.S. and security on Parliament Hill. It's the same kind of weird feeling."
Richard Teltschik is leading a delegation of German parliamentarians from the Christian Social Union of Bavaria on a visit to Ottawa, and left the Chateau Laurier as the Parliament Hill drama was unfolding.
“There was police coming from all sides, from all the streets they are running towards the Parliament,” he said in a phone call from the Museum of Canadian History, which is across the Ottawa River from the capital.
“We are all concerned and surprised that in quaint Canada, this kind of thing could happen,” he said. “Everybody expects Canada to be remote from all the troubles of the world, peaceful and quiet and now we have this situation.”
REACTION: 'OUR THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS ARE WITH THOSE INJURED'
Mr. Harper cancelled his planned trip to Toronto, where he was to present girls’ education activist Malala Yousafzai with honorary Canadian citizenship on Wednesday afternoon.
Conservative MPs held a moment of silence after they were informed that the Canadian Armed Forces member passed away.
Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz postponed a planned 11.15 a.m. news conference in Ottawa, due to take place in the National Press theatre, across Wellington Street from Parliament Hill. The news conference was to follow Wednesday’s release of the central bank’s interest rate statement and monetary policy report.
Ottawa mayor Jim Watson called Wednesday a “sad and tragic day for our city and our country.”
“I’m sure I speak for all residents of our city when I extend my heartfelt condolences to the family of the individual who lost his life this morning while standing guard at the National War Memorial at the heart of downtown Ottawa.”
In Toronto, Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne says she and the opposition leaders discussed suspending Question Period in light of the Ottawa shooting, but she says “we refuse to be silenced.”
White House and other U.S. government officials have been in “close touch” with their Canadian counterparts “to offer assistance” and have asked to arrange a phone call between President Barack Obama and Mr. Harper at the Prime Minister’s earliest convenience, White House press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters in Washington.
The NHL game scheduled in Kanata between the Ottawa Senators and Toronto Maple Leafs has been postponed.
With reports from Kathryn Blaze Carlson, Erin Anderssen, Shawn McCarthy, Colin Freeze, Sean Silcoff, Barrie McKenna, Ryan Macdonald, Evan Annett and The Canadian Press
Follow us on Twitter: Steven Chase @stevenchase, Bill Curry @curryb, Jill Mahoney @jillsmahoney, Josh Wingrove @josh_wingrove
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| Map of shooting location in Ottawa. |
OTTAWA AND TORONTO — The Globe and Mail
Wednesday, Oct. 22 2014, 9:59 AM EDT
The attack on Parliament Hill’s Centre Block and the National War Memorial has left one Canadian soldier and one male suspect dead.
Soldier shot at the National War Memorial has died
One suspect confirmed dead
Prime Minister safe and "not on Parliament Hill"
Downtown Ottawa and federal government buildings in lockdown
ON THE SCENE The scene inside: Gunfire breaks out on a busy caucus day
Several hours later, Ottawa Police and RCMP officers were still searching Parliament Hill and officials declined to say whether the unidentified gunman acted alone.
“We’re still in the process of an active operation right now. We’re treating this very seriously with the RCMP in identifying and clearing Parliament Hill to render it safe,” Ottawa Police Chief Charles Bordeleau told a mid-afternoon media briefing.
Buildings in Ottawa’s downtown core remained under lockdown and police enforced a perimeter around Parliament Hill after the gunman fired on soldiers guarding Canada’s main war memorial and gunfire rang through the halls of Centre Block.
Asked if the attack had caught police off guard, Gilles Michaud, commanding officer of the RCMP’s national division, said: “I think that from our reaction, it caught us by surprise.”
Still, he said “all available and necessary resources were activated and deployed immediately” and will remain in place as long as necessary.
Gunfire erupted at the National War Memorial around 9:52 a.m. (ET), then moved to Parliament Hill’s Centre Block. The Parliament Hill shooting was captured on this video by a Globe reporter. One Parliament Hill guard was shot in the leg and is recovering in hospital.
THE SHOOTING: FEDERAL BUILDINGS IN LOCKDOWN, POLICE ON ALERT
The outbreak of violence on Wednesday sent MPs into hiding and all federal government buildings into lockdown.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper was with Veterans Affairs Minister Julian Fantino in a caucus meeting when the gunfire began, Mr. Fantino told the Toronto Sun Wednesday. Fantino credits a sergeant-at-arms for taking down a gunman. "All the details are not in but the sergeant-at-arms, a former Mountie, is the one that engaged the gunman, or one of them at least, and stopped this," Fantino said.
Mr. Fantino also praised the RCMP for protecting the Prime Minister and other parliamentarians. "They were so professional," he told the Toronto Sun of the RCMP. "Incredible."
Mr. Harper will make a statement later today, said his communications director Jason MacDonald, who added that the Prime Minister “is safe and not on Parliament Hill” and was being briefed by security officials.
THE LOCKDOWN: OTTAWANS WARNED TO STAY CLEAR OF DOWNTOWN
RCMP are urging people in Ottawa not to head downtown, and for those in tall buildings around the downtown core to avoid windows and stay inside.
One source said the RCMP was said to be sending reinforcements from Toronto to assist in the investigation in the Ottawa shootings.
Parliament Hill staff were issued a security warning to stay away from doors and windows, lock their doors and, if doors would not lock, to barricade them. "Do not open a door under any circumstances," the security alert said.
Public building close to Parliament buildings have also established lockdowns, including the University of Ottawa, where personnel went door to door to tell people to stay put. Schools in the downtown core were also locked down. However, by early afternoon, students and faculty at the University of Ottawa were no longer fully respecting the lockdown and had started to leave campus.
The Rideau Centre mall, a major shopping centre a block from the war memorial, was also in lockdown after police initially reported shots being fired nearby. However, the police later said that no shots were fired near the mall.
THE WAR MEMORIAL: 'MOVE DOWN! THERE'S AN ACTIVE SHOOTER!'
Police officers at the cenotaph, which is cordoned with yellow tape and bordered by cruisers, ordered bystanders and journalists to move farther away from the crime scene, toward the Rideau Centre mall.
Tensions ran high as the officers yelled at journalists to get back around 10:30 a.m. (ET), with one officer shouting: " Move down! There's an active shooter! If you want to die, stay here. If you want to live, keep moving!”
Liberal MP John McKay said he was just taking off his jacket about to go into the caucus room when he heard "Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop!" He assumed the sounds were construction noise, but then security guards rushed down the halls ordering everybody out.
Mr. McKay said the MPs followed security out the back door and then they "huddled out back by the monuments" for a while. "That building is the people's building ... I'd hate to think of us shutting it down because of both paranoia and legitimate fears."
A tourist from the Netherlands, Yan Legtenborg, told reporters that a man with a long rifle was "running like hell that way... to Parliament Hill."
"We didn't expect this in Canada," he said.
EYEWITNESS: 'IT SOUNDED LIKE A SHOTGUN'
One man watched the scene unfold from a third-floor office that faces the war memorial. “It was unreal,” said the witness, who asked not to be identified. “I heard the shot and looked out the window. . . The shooter came from the west side and aimed right at the young guy that was standing guard and shot him twice. I think he missed with the first shot; it sounded like a shotgun.”
He saw the young soldier fall. No one returned fire. Other guards and police converged on the victim. The scene was “mayhem,” he said.
The dead soldier, whose name is being withheld pending notification of his family, was a member of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, a regiment of Reserve Forces based in Hamilton, according to a statement from Hamilton Mayor Bob Bratina.
Major-General Christopher Coates, deputy commander continental at Canadian Joint Operations Command, extended condolences to the member’s family.
“Canadian armed forces bases and establishments are currently taking precautions appropriate to their environment to ensure the safety and security of personnel and infrastructure,” he said.
THE CHATEAU LAURIER: GERMAN DELEGATION SAW DRAMA UNFOLD
Carol Devine, owner of Devine Fine Jewellery on the hotel's main floor, says people are being told they can't leave. "It's really weird. I feel the same today as I did on Sept 11 [2001]," she said. "I was working that day here, there were people stuck here from the U.S. and security on Parliament Hill. It's the same kind of weird feeling."
Richard Teltschik is leading a delegation of German parliamentarians from the Christian Social Union of Bavaria on a visit to Ottawa, and left the Chateau Laurier as the Parliament Hill drama was unfolding.
“There was police coming from all sides, from all the streets they are running towards the Parliament,” he said in a phone call from the Museum of Canadian History, which is across the Ottawa River from the capital.
“We are all concerned and surprised that in quaint Canada, this kind of thing could happen,” he said. “Everybody expects Canada to be remote from all the troubles of the world, peaceful and quiet and now we have this situation.”
REACTION: 'OUR THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS ARE WITH THOSE INJURED'
Mr. Harper cancelled his planned trip to Toronto, where he was to present girls’ education activist Malala Yousafzai with honorary Canadian citizenship on Wednesday afternoon.
Conservative MPs held a moment of silence after they were informed that the Canadian Armed Forces member passed away.
Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz postponed a planned 11.15 a.m. news conference in Ottawa, due to take place in the National Press theatre, across Wellington Street from Parliament Hill. The news conference was to follow Wednesday’s release of the central bank’s interest rate statement and monetary policy report.
Ottawa mayor Jim Watson called Wednesday a “sad and tragic day for our city and our country.”
“I’m sure I speak for all residents of our city when I extend my heartfelt condolences to the family of the individual who lost his life this morning while standing guard at the National War Memorial at the heart of downtown Ottawa.”
In Toronto, Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne says she and the opposition leaders discussed suspending Question Period in light of the Ottawa shooting, but she says “we refuse to be silenced.”
White House and other U.S. government officials have been in “close touch” with their Canadian counterparts “to offer assistance” and have asked to arrange a phone call between President Barack Obama and Mr. Harper at the Prime Minister’s earliest convenience, White House press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters in Washington.
The NHL game scheduled in Kanata between the Ottawa Senators and Toronto Maple Leafs has been postponed.
With reports from Kathryn Blaze Carlson, Erin Anderssen, Shawn McCarthy, Colin Freeze, Sean Silcoff, Barrie McKenna, Ryan Macdonald, Evan Annett and The Canadian Press
Follow us on Twitter: Steven Chase @stevenchase, Bill Curry @curryb, Jill Mahoney @jillsmahoney, Josh Wingrove @josh_wingrove
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