Gunfire Reported Inside Canada's Parliament

Ottawa, Ontario: Multiple shots were fired within the halls of Parliament here Wednesday, and police officers rushed to secure the building and move occupants to safety. At least one gunman was believed to be inside the building.

The identity of the gunman was not immediately clear, but a body, possibly that of a soldier, was seen slumped at the National War Memorial nearby. Medics later took him away in an ambulance.

Reuters reported that Prime Minister Stephen Harper had been inside the building but had left and was safe.

Journalists covering Parliament were ordered by police officers at gunpoint to lie on the floor in the foyer in front of the House of Commons, The Globe and Mail reported on its website. The Globe and Mail's correspondent, Josh Wingrove, said in a series of Twitter posts that the hallways were filled with the smell of gunpowder.

At least 10 Royal Canadian Mounted Police squad cars converged on Parliament Hill's Centre Block, and officers wearing bulletproof vests went into the complex.

The shootings in the heart of the normally placid Canadian capital came two days after two members of the Canadian armed forces were injured in a hit-and-run crash in a small Quebec city that authorities considered an act of terrorism.

(Rick Gladstone contributed reporting from New York.)