Update 2 | Canadian Parliament attacked by gunmen • One soldier dead

Police are looking for "more than one gunman" after a furious gun battle took place inside the Canadian Parliament Building in Ottawa this evening. 

Foreign news agencies report that one gunman shot a soldier at the Canadian War Memorial in Ottawa and was then chased by police into the main parliament building, where at least 30 more shots were fired, .

One soldier was wounded in the attack and has since been reported to have died of his wounds. Two people have been taken to the Ottawa Civic Hospital, however their injuries are not reported to be life-threatening.

Several gunmen are thought to be involved, including at least one sniper. At least one gunman is reported to have been killed by security forces.

"MPs and Hill staff owe their safety, even lives, to Sergeant at Arms Kevin Vickers who shot attacker just outside the MPs' caucus rooms", tweeted Canadian politician Craig Scott. 

Police in armoured vehicles have set up multiple roadblocks in downtown Ottawa and have instructed local residents to stay away from windows and roofs as they search for the suspects.

The Parliament building was locked down and Prime Minister Stephen Harper was escorted from the building to safety as police converged on the area.

Witnesses at the memorial told Canadian journalists that they saw a man with long hair carrying a rifle and heard four shots fired. One witness claimed he saw the man with the rifle then run towards Parliament Hill. Others described seeing people fleeing the parliament building by scrambling down scaffolding that had been put up for renovations.

Earlier today, Canada had raised its terror threat level from low to medium, however this “was not in response to a specific threat”.

The attacks come two days after a man ran over and killed two soldiers before being shot dead by police. Foreign reports say the man was "known to the police and said to have been radicalised".

In all, three separate shooting sites were reported: the Canadian war memorial, inside the Canadian parliament building and inside the nearby Rideau shopping centre.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has cancelled all his planned public engagements today and is expected to make a statement in the coming hours.