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Ottawa attempts return to normal after Parliament shooting

The House of Commons will meet as scheduled Thursday morning.

By Ed Adamczyk
Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada. (CC/ wikimedia.org/ johnycanal)
Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada. (CC/ wikimedia.org/ johnycanal)

OTTAWA, Oct. 23 (UPI) -- Ottawa, Ontario, and the Canadian government will attempt a return to normal Thursday after a shooting incident within its Parliament building left the country shocked.

A soldier, standing guard at the downtown National War Memorial was killed Wednesday morning by a terrorist suspect who then walked, armed with a rifle, into the Center Block of Ottawa's massive Parliament Hill building. He was shot to death by the House of Commons' Sergeant-at-Arms, and later identified as Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, 32, a Canadian citizen.

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Police spent the day unaware if other gunmen were involved, but late Wednesday confirmed to the newspaper Ottawa Citizen their working theory that Zehaf-Bibeau acted alone. It was confirmed he had a criminal record, for minor offenses, in Quebec and British Columbia provinces.

The ceremonial guard who stood at the War Memorial, which includes Canada's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, was identified as Cpl. Nathan Cirillo, 24, a reservist. The gunman was killed by Kevin Vickers, a former RCMP (Canadian federal police) member whose position as Sergeant-at-Arms makes him responsible for Parliament Hill security. Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who was in the Parliament building and escorted to safety as the gunman entered, said Wednesday night in a televised address that Canada would not be intimidated by the incident.

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"This will lead us to strengthen our resolve and redouble our efforts, and those of our national security agencies, to take all necessary steps to identify and counter threats and keep Canada safe here at home."

The Islamic State has emerged as the presumed leading motivator of the incident. It has publicly called for the deaths of civilians and military personnel in Canada, which is involved in the U.S.-led coalition of countries engaged in airstrikes against IS forces in Syria and Iraq. The Ottawa shooting came three days after a Canadian soldier was run down by a car and killed in a Montreal suburb.

While the government investigates how a gunman entered its well-fortified Parliament while authorities were on alert for possible IS attacks on Canadian soil, the House of Commons announced it will go on with a scheduled Thursday morning meeting, although visitors' galleries will be closed. Legislators are staffers were expected to report to work Thursday as usual.

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