"We will not be intimidated. Canada will never be intimidated,'' Prime Minister Stephen Harper vowed in a nationally televised address hours after a masked gunman killed a soldier standing guard at Ottawa's war memorial shortly before 10 a.m. on Wednesday. The suspect then stormed Parliament in a dramatic attack that was stopped cold when he was shot to death by the ceremonial sergeant-at-arms.
Harper called it the country's second terrorist attack in three days. A man Harper described as an “ISIL-inspired terrorist” on Monday ran over two soldiers in a parking lot in Quebec, killing one and injuring another before being shot to death by police. Like the suspect from Wednesday's shooting in Ottawa, he claimed to be a “recent convert to Islam”.
Investigators offered little information about the gunman in Ottawa, identified as 32-year-old petty criminal Michael Zehaf-Bibeau. But Harper said: “In the days to come we will learn about the terrorist and any accomplices he may have had.”
Witnesses said the soldier posted at the National War Memorial, identified as Cpl. Nathan Cirillo, was gunned down at point-blank range by a man carrying a rifle and dressed all in black, his face half-covered with a scarf. The gunman appeared to raise his arms in triumph, then entered Parliament, a few hundred yards away, where dozens of shots soon rang out, according to witnesses.
People fled the complex by scrambling down scaffolding erected for renovations, while others took cover inside as police with rifles and body armor took up positions outside and cordoned off the normally bustling streets around Parliament.
Police said in the initial hours after the shootings that as many as two other gunmen may have taken part. But as the day wore on, it appeared increasingly likely that the attack was the work of a single gunman.At least three people were treated for minor injuries.
In Washington, President Barack Obama condemned the shootings as “outrageous” and said: “We have to remain vigilant.'' The U.S. Embassy in Ottawa was locked down as a precaution, and security was tightened at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery just outside Washington.
Harper vowed that the attacks will “lead us to strengthen our resolve and redouble our efforts” to keep the country safe and work with Canada's allies to fight terrorists.
Court records that appear to be the gunman's show that he had a long rap sheet, with a string of convictions for assault, robbery, drug and weapons offenses, and other crimes.
The attack came two days after a person reported to be a “recent convert to Islam” killed the Canadian soldier and injured another with his car in a parking lot in the Quebec city of Saint-Jean-Sur-Richelieu.
The killer had been on the radar of federal investigators, who feared he had terrorist ambitions and seized his passport when he tried to travel to Turkey.
Canada had raised its domestic terror threat level from low to medium Tuesday because of what it called “an increase in general chatter from radical organizations.” As recently as Tuesday, Canada sent eight fighter jets to the Mideast to join the battle against ISIS.