 OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — A masked gunman killed a soldier standing guard at Canada's war memorial Wednesday, then stormed Parliament in an attack that was stopped cold when he was shot to death by the ceremonial sergeant-at-arms. The attacks in Ottawa occurred just two days after a Quebec soldier was killed in what Harper called an Islamic State-inspired attack in St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, not far from Montreal. FILE In this March 25, 2011 file photo, Sergeant-at-Arms Kevin Vickers carries the mace from the House of Commons at the conclusion of the session in Ottawa. A soldier standing guard at the National War Memorial has been shot by an unknown... (Associated Press) 
 
 Police converge on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Wednesday Oct. 22, 2014. A soldier standing guard at the National War Memorial was shot by an unknown gunman and people reported hearing gunfire inside... (Associated Press) 
 
 Police and paramedics tend to a soldier shot at the National Memorial near Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Wednesday Oct. 22, 2014. A soldier standing guard at the National War Memorial was shot by an unknown gunman... (Associated Press) 
 
 A Royal Canadian Mounted Police intervention team responds to a reported shooting at Parliament building in Ottawa, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2014. A soldier standing guard at the National War Memorial has been shot by an unknown... (Associated Press) 
 
 Police continue to patrol a downtown street near the National War Memorial in Ottawa, Ontario, on Wednesday, October 22, 2014. A gunman shot and killed a soldier at the National War Memorial in Ottawa... (Associated Press) 
 
 This photo provided by the Prime Minister's office shows the head of RCMP Bob Paulson briefs Canadian prime Minister Stephen Harper on the shootings at Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Wednesday Oct. 22,... (Associated Press) 
 
 In this photo provided by Conservative MP Nina Grewal, members of Parliament barricade themselves in a meeting room on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2014, after shots were fired... (Associated Press) 
 
 An Ottawa police officer runs with his weapon drawn outside Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Wednesday Oct. 22, 2014. A soldier standing guard at the National War Memorial was shot by an unknown gunman and... (Associated Press) 
 
 Tomb guards walks at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2014. Security beefed up 
 
 The attack on Parliament Hill immediately prompted officials across the country to heighten security at government buildings, provincial legislatures and military bases. A soldier standing guard at the National War Memorial was shot by an unknown gunman and people reported hearing gunfire inside the... (Associated Press) 
 
 "We will not be intimidated. Prime Minister Stephen Harper said in an evening address that Canada would not be intimidated by Wednesday's "brutal and violent attack" in Ottawa, in which an armed attacker shot and fatally wounded a Canadian Forces member at the National War Memorial before being shot dead in Parliament's Centre Block. (Twitter) 
 
 Harper, who was on Parliament Hill at the time of the shooting and was safely whisked away, met with members of his cabinet before making his address. Investigators offered little information about the gunman, identified as 32-year-old petty criminal Michael Zehaf-Bibeau. “Today is a sad and tragic day for our city and our country,” Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson said, adding that everyone is “looking for answers.” 
 
 The shooting comes two days after a man attacked two Canadian soldiers in St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que. Witnesses said the soldier posted at the National War Memorial, identified as Cpl. Nathan Cirillo, was gunned down at point-blank range by a man carrying a rifle and dressed all in black, his face half-covered with a scarf. The gunman appeared to raise his arms in triumph, then entered Parliament, a few hundred yards away, where dozens of shots soon rang out, according to witnesses. On Twitter, Canada's justice minister and other government officials credited 58-year-old sergeant-at-arms Kevin Vickers with shooting the attacker just outside the MPs' caucus rooms. Ottawa Civic Hospital confirmed four people were taken to hospital: the soldier who died, and three who were released after treatment for minor injuries. The president later publicly condemned the Ottawa shootings, calling them “outrageous.” 
 
 “We’re all shaken by it,” he said, adding that the U.S. is closely watching the unfolding events. Canada will never be intimidated.” 
 
 Harper said the attacks will only strengthen Canada’s resolve and lead the government to “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.” 
 
 National Defence Minister Rob Nicholson echoed Harper in a statement issued late Wednesday, saying that Canada’s deployments in Iraq as part of the U.S.-led fight against ISIS “will continue unimpeded.” 
 
 The prime minister offered his condolences to the friends and family of Cpl. Parliament Hill and Ottawa’s downtown core were under lockdown for hours after the shootings, but police have not said if other suspects were still on the loose. Court records that appear to be the gunman's show that he had a long rap sheet, with a string of convictions for assault, robbery, drug and weapons offenses, and other crimes. Tony Zobl said he witnessed the Canadian soldier being gunned down from his fourth-floor window directly above the National War Memorial, a 70-foot, arched granite cenotaph, or tomb, with bronze sculptures commemorating World War I. "I looked out the window and saw a shooter, a man dressed all in black with a kerchief over his nose and mouth and something over his head as well, holding a rifle and shooting an honor guard in front of the cenotaph point-blank, twice," Zobl told the Canadian Press news agency. "The honor guard dropped to the ground, and the shooter kind of raised his arms in triumph holding the rifle." The car was later spotted parked in front of Parliament Hill, just down the block. Cabinet minister Tony Clement tweeted that at least 30 shots were heard inside Parliament, where Conservative and Liberal MPs were holding their weekly caucus meetings. Canada had raised its domestic terror threat level from low to medium Tuesday because of what it called "an increase in general chatter from radical Islamist organizations."
– Dramatic footage taken by a Globe and Mail reporter captures an exchange of gunfire inside the seat of Canada's government. More than 30 shots can be heard as authorities inside the Parliament building exchange fire with an attacker now identified as Michael Zehaf-Bibeau. In an evening address to the nation, Prime Minister Stephen Harper described the "brutal and violent" Ottawa shooting as a terrorist attack—the second this week—and an assault on the values of "Canadians as a free and democratic people who embrace human dignity for all," the CBC reports. "Let there be no misunderstanding—we will not be intimidated," he said. "Canada will never be intimidated." The gunman—who fatally shot 24-year-old soldier Nathan Cirillo before entering Parliament—was shot dead outside an occupied caucus room and three people were hospitalized with minor injuries, including one who was shot in the foot. After earlier reports of up to two other shooters, lockdowns around Parliament and in Ottawa's downtown core have been lifted. Police say nobody else is in custody and there is no longer any threat to the public in the area, reports the AP. The National Security Council says President Obama, who publicly condemned the attack as "outrageous," has spoken with Harper and offered "any assistance" needed, CTV reports.