Police killed at least one of the shooters involved in an attack at the Canadian Parliament, CBC television reported on Wednesday. The police continue to hunt for as many as three suspects, with one "probably" on the roof of the parliament in downtown Ottawa.

"We are actively looking for suspects right now, so we don't know if it is suspect one or suspects plural," Ottawa Police Constable Marc Soucy told the news agency Reuters.

Earlier Wednesday, a gunman shot and wounded a Canadian soldier standing guard at the National War Memorial in Ottawa, and then entered parliament, where as many as 30 shots rang out, police and witnesses said. People fled the building by scrambling down scaffolding erected for renovations, witnesses told the Canadian Press news agency. The prime minister's top spokesman said that Stephen Harper had fled Parliament Hill to safety.

Wednesday's shooting comes two days after a man killed one Canadian soldier and injured another in a hit-and-run in the French-speaking province of Quebec before police gunned him down. Investigators said they had kept an eye on the man, fearing he had extremist ambitions and seized his passport when he tried to travel to Turkey.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police have warned people in downtown Ottawa to stay away from windows and rooftops. Police have also reported shots fired at a shopping mall near the parliament building, and Canadian officials have locked down military bases.

mkg/sb (Reuters, AFP, dpa, AP)