A sustained volley of shots was fired. Startled security personnel and political staff scrambled to take cover in the limestone alcoves as bullets flew.
Alain Merisier, who works at the cafeteria in one of the Parliament Buildings, said he saw a man in a car at the Centre Block with a long gun.
There were unconfirmed reports that a person was injured outside the Library of the Parliament.
“We were waiting there for a city tour and suddenly I heard four shots,” said Jan Luchtenburg, a tourist visiting Ottawa from Holland.
“Suddenly I saw a small guy with long black hair... with a long rifle, and he ran away after the shots, across streets in the direction of Parliament Hill,” he said.
