A Canadian soldier standing guard at the National War Memorial in Ottawa has been shot.

Shots have been also been fired down the street inside and outside of Parliament Hill. Witnesses describe the gunman as carrying a rifle and having long hair. As of this writing, he is still on the loose.

This incident comes only 48 hours after one Canadian soldier was killed and another was injured by a Muslim convert and ISIS sympathizer in Quebec who ran them over with his vehicle. The assailant, Martin Rouleau, was later shot and killed by police.

While it is possible these events might be unrelated, given the proximity of these incidents it is not unreasonable to believe this is the work of another ISIS sympathizer.

At this point, one can only hope the soldier survives his wounds, that no one else has been hurt and the gunman is apprehended.

UPDATE: Shots were apparently fired in the Centre Block of Parliament Hill where both the House of Commons and Senate are situated. I wonder how the gunman got into Centre Block. When I interned there in the early 1990’s, you could walk into the main entrance. However, in September 1996, a crazed man drove his vehicle through that entrance and then proceeded to attack several RCMP officers standing guard. Amazingly, no one was killed nor seriously injured. But the security procedures were restricted only government vehicles and pedestrian access was also limited considerably. Now it’s been many years since I’ve been to Parliament Hill so I’m sure there have been changes during that time. Nevertheless, I do wonder how the gunman got into Centre Block.

UPDATE II: There was apparently a third shooting near the Rideau Center in addition to the shootings at the National War Memorial and inside Parliament Hill. As such it appears we are dealing with multiple gunmen. A few MPs have tweeted that a gunmen inside Parliament Hill was shot and killed, but this has not been confirmed. All federal government buildings in Ottawa are on lockdown and people are being advised to stay away from the downtown area.

UPDATE III: In answer to my earlier question, a witness saw the gunman jump the stonefence surrounding Parliament Hill, carjack a government authorized vehicle and then shot his way into the building.

UPDATE IV: It has been confirmed that the gunman inside Parliament Hill has been killed. He was shot by Kevin Vickers, Sergeant at Arms of the House of Commons. However, it is unclear the condition of the soldier shot at the War Memorial. There were reports he had been killed, but there has been no official update on his condition one way or the other. Other gunmen are still believed to be at large.

UPDATE V: The soldier shot at the War Memorial has died. He has not been identified pending notification of next of kin, but it is known that he is reservist from Hamilton, Ontario.

UPDATE VI: The deceased soldier has been identified as Corporal Nathan Cirillo. He was 24. The gunman killed at Parliament Hill has been identified as Michael Zehaf-Bibeau who is, you guessed it, a recent Muslim convert. Zehaf-Bibeau has a lengthy criminal record which naturally makes one wonder if his conversion took place while he was incarcerated. Meanwhile, the search continues for the other gunmen.