Dead Canadian solider and gunman both identified

(By Marie Cassidy and Sean Eckford)

The Canadian soldier killed this morning at the National War Memorial has been identified by several media reports.

Corporal Nathan Cirillo, 24, was the young reservist from Hamilton was shot Wednesday morning in Ottawa at the War Memorial on Parliament Hill.

Cirillo was later pronounced dead in hospital. The city of Hamilton and the nation as a whole is mourning the loss of the young solider.

Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson says the city has lived through tragedy before, but this is different.

“I urge all of my fellow residents to think of the individuals standing on guard at the National War Memorial,” he says. “Remember how one person’s life has been taken from us, from family and friends, from the future that was to be his.”

Several media outlets are identifying the gunman involved in the shooting on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.

CBS News says he was Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, 32.

Reuters is reporting that U-S agencies have been told the suspect is Canadian born.
In Victoria, the Legislature got back to business with a moment of silence and pledges from the premier, the NDP leader and the speaker not to let fear force them to close access to public institutions.

Premier Christy Clark says British Columbians stand by the people of Ottawa

“This has happened in a place that is geographically far away, but somewhere that we all deeply hold in our hearts as Canadians,” Clark says.
Opposition leader John Horgan took up the theme of keeping the Legislature a place the public is still welcome.

“As important as security measures will be over the next number of hours, days, and weeks, not just here but in Ottawa and every Legislature in this country, we have to always keep in the forefront of our mind and the forefront of the decisions that we make around security, that this institution belongs to the people,” Horgan says.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper is expected to address the nation Wednesday night.