Ottawa shooting: Expect increased police presence on streets

Ottawa police are warning the city's residents to expect "an increased police presence in key areas in the coming days" after the fatal shooting of a soldier at the National War Memorial and the death of the shooter at Parliament Hill Wednesday.

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Much of the downtown core near Parliament Hill was under policelockdown until Wednesday evening, with no one allowed in or out of most buildings. Late Wednesday night, police said that Parliament Hill remained off limits because of the investigation into the day's shootings.

And aspolice say they will continue to maintain avisible presence, various levels of government have said officials and staffwill return to work Thursday.

House to sit as scheduled

Speaker of the House Andrew Scheer confirmed the House of Commons would sit Thursday as scheduled.

"While I am deeply saddened by todays tragic events, I wish to confirm that the House of Commons will be sitting at 10 a.m. tomorrow morning, as planned. This sends a clear message of Canadas resolve to maintain its free and democratic way of life," read the statement.

The City of Ottawa sent a notification late Wednesday that employees should plan to report to work as scheduled on Thursday and that all city services would resume.

"It is business as usual unless otherwise notified," the notification read.

As of Wednesday night, Wellington Street remained closed from Bank to Sussex and O'Connor, Metcalfe and Elgin were closed from Wellington to Queen. OC Transpo routes on Wellington were alsobeing rerouted.

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While the RCMP has taken over the ongoing investigation, Ottawa police said they are continuing to support the investigation.

Ottawa police said they are still looking for witnesses of the shooting incidents and are asking people to call them at 613-236-1222, extension 5493.

Anyone with pictures or videos of the sequence of events surrounding the shootings is being directed to send them to the RCMP.