Gunman kills soldier in Ottawa; shot down by police

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http://www.aljazeera.com/news/americas/2014/10/canada-ottawa-2014102214189269507.html

A gunman armed with a rifle has shot and killed a Canadian soldier guarding Ottawa's war memorial, before being pursued by police into the national parliament building and shot dead himself.

The attack began at about 9.50am on Wednesday local time (13.50 GMT) when a man shot the uniformed soldier. It was reported by Canadian media that the man then stole a car and drove to nearby Parliament Hill.

He was then confronted by police and killed. Video obtained by Canada's Globe and Mail showed officers moving through parliament before an exchange of gunfire is heard. A body was reported lying on the ground after the gunfire.

Canadian local authorities confirmed the name of the dead gunman as Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, who was first identified by the US television network CBS. The 32-year-old suspect was deemed a "high-risk traveler" by intelligence services, and according to media reports he had recently had his passport confiscated.

No information has as yet been given as to a possible motive for the attack.

The attack came hours after Canada raised its terrorism threat level from low to medium, the highest it has been for four years.

It also comes two days after two Canadian soldiers were run over - and one of them killed - in Quebec.