Circumstances as this morning is beyond expression and underlined by sad anger within my heart. But ill not let that anger rule the day. Our capital has seen tragedy in the past. Were doing so again. So far, no firm motive here but officials have been warning of terror chatter since canada first pledged its help to help isis in the middle east. That chatter according to officials including gun and knife attacks in u. S. And canada. Investigators trying to figure out if any of that chatter might be related at all to what happened this morning. To be clear, there have been no incidents today on u. S. Soil. In washington, Capitol Police remain on the same heightened alert thats been in place since after 9 11. Same story down the street at the white house where president obama is being kept up to date on developments by his Homeland Security adviser and he spoke by phone a short time ago with the canadian Prime Minister. Meantime, u. S. Officials are beefing up security, police and military centers around the nation out of an abundance of caution. Nbc news justice correspondent Pete Williams has been working the phones since those first shots were fired. Pete, how is u. S. Law enforcement here at home responding to what weve seen unfold in canada today . Not much. The reason is theres no threat in the u. S. The whole dhs system was changed here in the last couple of years. Getting away from the colorcoded threat level, the abundance of caution stuff. Now the threat is not changed here unless theres a specific credible threat. And everyone weve talked to said theres no indication that what happened in canada has any tentacles, any pointers in the direction of the u. S. It seems to be confined to ottawa. The best information we have at this point is there was a single gunman. There just doesnt seem to be any concrete evidence of another one. The same person, its believed, attacked both the memorial and then a few blocks away the Parliament Building. As you reported, there have been no reports of shots fired anywhere else. They are trying to identify this gunman. They havent really said much. Its not clear where hes from. Whether even hes from canada isnt even clear. But there dont appear to be any connections to the u. S. So what the fbi has told its offices is, pay attention, talk to the usual people, do what you normally do in a case like this, in another country thats obviously a close neighbor of the u. S. No change in the department of Homeland Security posture. But you have seen these an e anecdotal where we were told there was increased military at a military base in los angeles area. These things are up to local officials. Theyre not told to take any response by any federal agency. Pete williams, thank you very much for that. Joining us now from calgary, canada, is dr. Kelly sundayberg, associate professor in the department of justice studies at mount royal university. Critics say canadas charter of rights and freedoms inhibits federal police to take action against suspected homegrown terrorists. Explain how that works. Well, in canada, such as in the United States, we have a supreme law that ensures the rights and freedoms of canadians and governs the way that Police Conduct investigations, as well as how our Security Intelligence services investigate threats to our National Security. Be them from abroad or within here in canada. Our laws in canada are such that the burden for Law Enforcement and for Security Intelligence to take definitive action against suspected homegrown terrorists or others who threaten our society is very high. And just on this past monday we had an incident in the province of quebec where two soldiers were hit by a car. Unfortunately, one was killed. And reports have come out that the the canadian officials were aware that the person who killed this one soldier and wounded the other was known to authorities as possibly being a threat to security and that, in fact, had been on a list of 90 other individuals seen as a threat to our National Security. And then today we see tragedy at war memorial and Parliament Hill where another canadian soldier has been killed. Were yet to hear if theres a linkage between the two but the coincidence is evident. Officials have been on alert of Something Like this happening. It reopens the debate about having an open capitol where you can have tourists roam freely and also risk a gunman, getting too close to where the Prime Minister would work. With a situation like this, does this make canada maybe rethink having an open capitol . Well, im an environmental criminologist and i do look at how we can secure built environments, properties, buildings in a manner we can keep them open, we can keep them beautiful, we can keep them functional. At the same time im sure that we have optimum security to prevent possible incidences like this happening or at least mitigate it. Its a challenge. Any public space or government building where we want to encourage tourists and visitors to our country to visit the capitol. We want to encourage that but at the same time we have to be mindful we had our Prime Minister, all Senior Leaders of government in that building within meters of this shooting. When we see this, i do think that despite the significant security that does exist on Parliament Hill, there has to be a reassessment of this and see what more can be done. In the United States you do an excellent job on this. In canada, i think we do a good job, but i think theres more to be done. Lets talk more about ottawa and help fill the folks in with some context. Ottawa, from what ive heard s very proud of the open society that would not have guns all over the place. If i read this properly, ottawa had nine homicides in 2013 and seven in 2012. So, this has not been a major problem in this major city. Thats very true. Ottawa is a city of over a million people. Our capital city, a bustling center for government and for business. Yes, in canada we have very low crime rates, low homicide rates. What were beginning to see and we see this both in the United States, were seeing this in the United Kingdom, australia, now in canada, whereas our government becomes more involved in overseas operations with were now sending six of our fighter jets to engage isis in the battle over there, our threat level, our expose here at home. So when you think of crime, terrorism, although they are related, terrorism is a crime, this is something that inca nad yans are going to have to consider. That as we become more engaged in the war against terrorism internationally, our threat level here at home is going to increase. On that point, what is the history of terror attacks on canadian soil . I know you mentioned the incident in quebec a couple days ago. To be clear, we dont know in latest incident in ottawa is at all related to terrorist threats or related to isis. But is there a history in canada of terrorist attacks on canadian soil . October 19, 1970 former Prime Minister troudeu enacted the terrorist act because of the flq, known in history as the october crisis. 44 years later we now see again another october crisis where it would appear that our country is potentially facing a threat of terrorism, perhaps, stemming from International Activities here at home. Yet to be seen, but canada is a peaceful country. We have had the rcmp and csis, our federal police and national Security Intelligence agencies, have indicated they have prevented attacks and that we had one at the British Columbia legislature that was a suspected terrorist attack that the rcmp were able to disrupt. But were you know, canada is not immune to the threat of terrorism. However, as a society, we really do have a National View or sentiment that this is not something that we have to worry as canadians. This is an issue that the United States or the United Kingdom have to worry about. But i feel that this is something that canadians must reconsider and we are exposed to risk. Indeed. Dr. Kelly sundayberberg, thank. Lets turn to anthony roman, thank you for being with us. I want to ask you the question abby put to kelly, the balance of security versus having open government buildings, open access to the Parliament Building. As a security expert, how do you look at maintaining that balance . Well, in a Civil Society in which we have the great freedoms that we do, we really dont to want give those freedoms up, nor should we. But there can be a process where we mitigate the risk down to the minimum without being obtrusive. Thats creating a series of buffer zones, a series of access points, a series of escalating Protection Measures that are nonvisible. For example, the tactics being used to search for this gunman right now, there are many tactics being used that we simply wont talk about because we dont want dont want to give them up. The enemy to know how we use them. But there are measures that can be put in place, that civil libertarians would not find obtrusive but that we can fulfill our obligation to protect as we look at this footage, for people in canada, this is traumatic even with a relatively low death count here, because it is their capital, it is the seat of government. You imagine this weve had shootings at the u. S. Capitol before. Speak about the strategic nature of this when we dont know who did it or why. We know very little about what this kind of attack would be. Weve reported theres a broader context of the worry about isil, but no concrete evidence yet today. What are we to make of the location of this attack, which could be symbolic for geostrategic reasons or not . Well, the location of the attack and the nature of the attack, given the facts that we know right now, are suggestive that it may be a terrorist attack. And heres why. Weve had soldiers attacked in london that were first hit by a Motor Vehicle and then assaulted brutally with a knife and murdered. Weve had that happen in canada. Weve had that happen in ft. Hood in texas in the United States. Right. So this follows a pattern of radical islam, homeinspired attacks. That doesnt mean it is. But it does follow that pattern. And its also a symbolic target. The soldier is and so is the parliament. So, its all very suggestive. Whether it is or not will remain to be seen. How much of a wakeup call, though, should this be . I mean, there the officials here in the u. S. And canada have been on high alert about Something Like this happening. Do you expect the threat level here to be raised and potentially internationally . Well, even if the threat level is not raised, the level of preparedness will be heightened by each Law Enforcement agency and overseas in the embassies. I see for it happening that way and for it not to happen would be foolish. I think the Security Services know what they have to do and theyre preparing for it. Anthony, we heard our last guest there talking about the limitations that canadians have in terms of being able to conduct surveillance and prevent these sorts of attacks from happening. Particularly the one in quebec seems to have been related to isis inspiration. We dont know as much about this one yet. But dont all free societies have limitations on how much they can preempt of sort of attacks before they actually occur . Yes, they do. Its a tug of war and a balance, a moving bar, so to speak, given the threat level and given the nature of the targets we want to protect. For example, we all want to protect our children in elementary school. We all want to protect our families at the mall or at the stadium when we go to see a sporting event. We have to be prepared to do that, i believe, in a better, more effective way than we are right now. Yet, it does not have to be fully obtrusive, for example, where it is in israel where they face an imminent military threat against their Civil Society and have this limited geography in which fundamentally theyre surrounded. So, we dont have that set of circumstances, nor do i believe we need that kind of obtrusive security where everywhere you go, you need to walk through magnotometers and be searched. But we do need to improve what were doing because, simply, at malls unarmed security guards that are not brilliantly trained or former tactical officers or former Police Officers are not the greatest idea. Thank you for being here. Well take a quick break. When we go back, well go to the pentagon where some of the latest movements are being made by norad in light of todays shootings in canada. Uhhh. No, that cant happen. Thats the thing, you dont know how long it has to last. Everyone has retirement questions. So ameriprise created the exclusive. Confident retirement approach. Now you and your ameripise advisor can get the real answers you need. Well, knowing gives you confidence. Start building your confident retirement today. And sometimes i struggle to sleep at night,nd. And stay awake during the day. This is called non24, a circadian rhythm disorder that affects up to 70 percent of people who are totally blind. Talk to your doctor about your symptoms and learn more by calling 8448242424. Or visit your24info. Com. Dont let non24 get in the way of your pursuit of happiness. Yeah, citi mobile. Pay the dog sitter . And deposit that check . Citi mobile. Pack your bathing suit . Wearing it. Niiice bank from almost anywhere with the citi mobile app. Mormal snap jebby rolbanma jebby deetle flosh. [laughter] eh. Nows the time to get in the loop. Just look for our fall tv picks with xfinity on demand. Quickly find the seasons hottest shows, with a handpicked collection all in one place. Only from xfinity. Well, we were working on the statue and i heard a bunch of pops. I thought it was just firecrackers going ov. I look across the street and there was a man with a rifle shooting at a bunch of people. So, we i yelled at all my guys, theres guys shooting so everyone was, get down, get down. I was walking along the front of the war memorial. I was just passing just over here and all of a sudden just heard a shot. Turned around and there was a guy with a rifle just around on the back corner. And just, pow. He ran up the side of this building here and hijacked a car at gunpoint. Didnt hurt the gentleman in the car. And then took off towards the back here and headed in that direction toward the construction. Frightening moments today in the Canadian Capital described by the people who experienced them. Police are still calling the investigation into this mornings shootings a dynamic and unfolding situation. At this point, the one gunman we know of is dead, so is the soldier who encountered that guy near parliament. Jim, there is heightened security at the tomb of the unknown soldier at Arlington National scemetery. How is our military reacting to this breaking story in canada . Well, the Immediate Reaction out of norad, the north American Aerospace command center in colorado was to put all of their fighter planes on a state of high alert just in case. There was a more ee lab ralt terrorist scheme that involved many different attacks against many different targets. The precaution, of course, was in case a terrorist had either commandeered a private plane. No planes are in the air but they remain at a heightened state of alert just in case. And the Aerospace Defense command has been in place for years, for decades, to protect the United States and canada, obviously, against any threat from the air. And it wasnt too long ago when a passenger, an unruely passenger on a commercial plane flying from the u. S. Into canada was believed to have been a threat and u. S. Aircraft escorted that plane, just in case, all the way to its destination in canada. And one other issue that may crop up later today. The canadians have reportedly told all their military personnel that when they leave their bases, to change their clothing from their uniforms into civilian clothing, so as not to be an easy target. Were told these several hundred american troops that are working in canada, if that were the case, they, too, would get out of their uniforms into civilian clothes as to not be a target. Norad has raised the security level. What sort of relationship does the pentagon have with our canadian counterparts . At all parts. Canadians have fought alongside with americans in iraq and afghanistan. So that relationship goes back. Of course, they patrol the skies constantly, watching those russian bombers buzz Northern Canada and alaska at a pretty regular basis. All right, mick, at the pentagon. Our next guest ran hostage negotiations for the atf. Jim cavanaugh is now an nbc Law Enforcement analyst. Were once again seeing attacks on soldiers and iconic government installations, targets. These are hallmarks of domestic and international terrorists. What does it tell you when we see these two things again . It tells you the security was really not adequate at the Parliament Building in ottawa. Ive been there, but its not adequate. If you have a facility where someone can pull out a rifle across the street from your facility, shoot someone down in cold blood and then run into your facility, your security is lacking. And that clearly is the case here. And to be caught by surprise there, after all the threats this month from overseas, from the terrorists, really they need to tighten that up dramatically. I know they want an open society, but the terrorists at all f this turns out to be terrorism, i think thats the major lead at the moment, it may change, but people want to take your freedom as way. Thats your objective. So, you have to find that balance. Its sad, sad for the Canadian Military to lose a man like this. Indeed. Jim, to that point of whether or not this was terrorism, we still dont know how many shooters there were. We know there was obviously at least one. We dont know whether there were multiple, whether this was, in fact, a coordinated attack. How does it change your view of the nature of this situation depending on how many shooters were involved here . Right. Great question. You know, when you have a mad man or mentally deranged person who wants to go on a free killing and shoot a lot of people, and weve seen our number in the United States, at schools and malls and colleges and so forth, usually youre alone. You know, its hard to get your friend to say, hey, can we go down to the mall and just kill everybody . Now, theres cases where theres two, i mean, we had columbine, thats two. You know, i was in the d. C. Sniper case, we had two. There are some cases with two or more. But mostly its one. So, when you see multiple actors, you usually see a conspiracy, a criminal conspiracy or terror conspiracy. You also see loneinspired actors. It remains to be seen if this case is a loneinspired actor, a mad man, you know, somebody inspired by the internet to attack. I think the targets significant. The soldier and then government building. And that would be at least consistent with what terrorists have attacked before. Ft. Hood, recruiting station in arkansas where the guy came out of tennessee right here in nashville. He was radicalized. You know, the london soldier who was hit with the meat cleaver. The canadian soldier who was just run over. Weve had soldiers in europe attacked as well. All based on this sort of al qaeda ilk and their derivative. So, it does seem to be a light motif of them, so lets see how that develops in this case. Societies are constantly laying that balance between protection and openness that people want. And in ottawa, you know, as weve discussed, they really liked having that open society. You say that theyir sensitive targets were not protected enough but as you say, terrorists want to take away our freedoms in the west and change society. So if ottawa changes because of this, then havent the terrorists won in a way . Well, sometimes you have the option. You know, to have the security or be slaughtered. And you have to find the balance in there. You know, our constitution there and the constitution of canada, you know, it cant be a suicide pact. We cant say, oh, well, you can kill me because i dont want to violate your rights. So you attorneys and your brilliant legislators have to come find for the people a place that doesnt tread our liberties, but, you know, keeps us safe. Its very difficult to do at times, i understand. But this is a low order world war. And the quicker we realize it collectively that were going to be in this long, low order world war, then we need to find ways within the criminal justice system, within the military structure, to be able to fight it and defeat it. And maybe we wont eliminate every attack, but certainly to reduce it. Because no facility should be able to have a person with a rifle run into the front door. And if your facility can allow that, youre not secure. A couple guys and a metal def t detector is not security. When you see that kind of security, as youve been emphasizing theres been an attack outside the facility, thats very concerning. Jim cavanaugh, thank you very much. For more on what happened today and questions about the possible connection to terror, we bring in tom sanderson, an expert at transnational threats at strategic and international studies. Good day to you. Lets start with this concept of terrorism, because for people watching at home may say, it sounds like somebody was murdered in this symbolic location. Why do we not know its terrorism . Bruce hoffman at rand defined the objectives and say one of the core ways we figure out if something is terrorism as opposed to a dom crime is whether it was a political objective and whether it was done to terrorize society or use war as a theater. Talk to us about that. We dont know the details yet here, but how would we perceive of whether or not this is terror. Well, first of all, there may be some Statement Released by a friend of his, the shooters, or there could be information, propaganda discovered on a hard drive this individual may have. Lets not forget, even though this is a government target and likely terrorism, it may not be focused on isis or supporting isis. Dont forget, Timothy Mcveigh in Oklahoma City, ruby ridge, all these situations where we have antigovernment terrorists. What are the features that, for you as an expert here, would make you classify Timothy Mcveighs act in Oklahoma City as terrorism . Terrorism is designed to threaten noncombatants or others, members of government, in order to get a government to do something or to stop doing something. If there was a demand here, that would help complete that circle. I think the point here is to draw attention to an issue that may emerge. Because when you attack the parliament, when you attack a soldier at the tomb of the unknowns, youre bringing a lot of eyes to the subject. You must have some subject. We dont know why he shot the soldier at the tomb. He could have thought the soldier was a threat to his man. Heres what we do know, according to csis, canadian Security Intelligence service. Approximately 130 people have left canada to join terrorist groups and another 80 have since returned. Officials in new york and canada say they fear a lowtech knife or gun attack similar to what we saw this morning. Obviously, as weve seen saying, this is a very fluid situation. We dont know what the ultimate outcome of this will be. But how do you read that, when you see these numbers and what we know from this morning so far, what does that tell you . Well, before i answer, let me give you some more numbers. More than 100 americans and more than 3,000 europeans who have gone to fight in syria on behalf of isis or other groups. And many of those 3,000 plus europeans hail from one of the 30 visawaiver countries in europe, so they can move to the so, those numbers are pretty scary on all sides, u. S. , canadian, european. They can be instrumentalized by isis or al nusra to attack or those who are against the air strikes against their team in syria. Its frightening and raises legitimate questions and concerns about those folks coming back into the United States or into canada. And i think were there. Also we live in a new world, right . Different from eight, ten years ago, the threats we face today are far different than they once were. They are. Though during the war in iraq we thought that hundreds of people would come to europe or the United States, or at least dozens of people, to conduct attacks when the u. S. Had 150,000 troops on the ground and we were out in the lead and on the ground in muslim territory. That shoe never dropped in a big way. We didnt have the high number of plots in the United States or europe that we expected during the conduct of an extremely unpopular war. Now we have one that has a lot of support around the world and were expecting things to happen in this. We dont know where this is going to go yet. But with the killing of the other soldier in con anada, in montreal, that certainly leads us to believe there is some activity related to canadas commitment to the coalition in the middle ooels. What do we know about isiss strategy in terms of inspiring terrorist attacks in the west, in canada, in the u. S. . Is that something theyve explicitly said is a goal of theirs . They have called for if now that theres an introduction of u. S. And canadian and other forces in the region. But there was alleges a general call to attack the west. Isis has largely been focused on shiite is this an individual heeding that call or an individual who went to syria, got the battlefield train, legitimacy and the skill and is returning at the behest of an isis commander . We dont know. Either situation is troubling. You talk about the other shoe not dropping when we had 150,000 folks over there. Why do you think we havent seen more successful attacks here . Well, number one, we have excellent Law Enforcement. They have uncovered plots local, nypd, fbi and others have uncovered plots. Theres also a sense of deter rents. I think its also difficult for them to conceive of the attack. Its difficult to do this. Its hard to pull off these attacks. A lone gunman in canada osh ft. Hood, thats doable but still difficult. A more coordinated attack is just that much harder. You run the chance of being discovered, of people within the group saying, oh, im not going to do it and then turning to the police. So, its hard to do, but a lone gunman is probably the easiest to do. And they have the smallest signature, footprint, of any actor, so theyre hard to find. And this morning was certainly a wakeup call of that. Thank you so much for being with us. Straight ahead, were at the white house where ebola, of all things, got put on the back burner this morning. Im only in my 60s. Ive got a nice long life ahead. Big plans. So when i found out medicare doesnt pay all my medical expenses, i looked at my options. Then i got a Medicare Supplement insurance plan. [ male announcer ] if youre eligible for medicare, you may know it only covers about 80 of your part b medical expenses. 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[ male announcer ] join the millions of people who have already enrolled in the only Medicare Supplement insurance plans endorsed by aarp, an Organization Serving the needs of people 50 and over for generations. Remember, all Medicare Supplement insurance plans help cover what medicare doesnt pay. And could save you in outofpocket medical costs. Call now to request your free decision guide. And learn more about the kinds of plans that will be here for you now and down the road. I have a lifetime of experience. So i know how important that is. All embassy personnel. We are currently restricting the movement of personnel as a precautionary measure. The state department is ensuring the safety of employees at u. S. Embassy in canada located just feet from Parliament Hill. That was the site of that wild shootout this morning. Over at the white house this hour, president obama is being constantly updated on this still fluid situation. Nbcs Chris Jansing is on the north lawn for us. We thought the new ebola czar would be grabbing all the headlines today. That certainly didnt turn out to be the case. Reporter in fact, the president is in the oval office with the new ebola czar, ron klain, right now. We expect comments at the end of that meeting. We wouldnt be surprised at all if he had something to say about the situation in ottawa. Earlier today, we can show you a picture, he was on the phone with Prime Minister harper offering the assistance of the United States. We know that there have been conversations not just between the president and Prime Minister, but folks from the state department, from the department of Homeland Security, as well as other white house officials. Homeland security really became one of the lead agencies in the relationship with canada post9 11. Obviously, theres always been a geographical and economic relationship, but 9 11 and our large border changed that. Josh earnest, the press secretary, talked about that a short time ago at the briefing. Lets take a listen. Canada is one of the closest friends and allies of the United States. And from issues ranging from the strength of our Nato Alliance to the Ebola Response to dealing with isil, theres a Strong Partnership and friendship and alliance between the United States and canada. The United States strongly values that relationship and that relationship makes the citizens of this country safer. Reporter so, you heard him mention isil or isis. We know that canadian officials were part of the conversations back during the u. N. General assembly when the president was trying to recruit ear countries to get involved in the fight against isis. Just on october 8th the Canadian Parliament voted to contribute planes, personnel to the fight against isis in iraq. And so they have become a part of this coalition. Everyone involved has had conversations about the threat of foreign fighters. If this is, indeed, what this turns out to be. I think everyone is taking a very cautious approach. We dont know what the motivation is yet, but certainly the conversations have continued about that. Right now, we are waiting for the postebola meeting in the oval office right now. We do expect to hear from the president. Krystal . Chris jansing at the white house, thank you for that update. Lets now turn to Bloomberg News d. C. Bureau chief jonathan al n allen. Its been one thing after another, as i was just saying to chris, we expected to have all the headlines about the ebola czar today and now were faced with yet another scare here. Its a terrible situation, whats going on in canada today. Obviously, moved ebola to the back burner. You saw someone die and at least two people injured from the reports ive heard today in ottawa, which is the same number, one dead and two infected, from the ebola virus over the last several weeks. I think most folks are expecting ebola will be contained within the United States, if it isnt already. Now were dealing with terrorism again, a subject that we have been dealing with on and off for many years now. John, were hearing the u. S. Embassy in ottawa is on lockdown. I have to imagine that embassies throughout american embassies throughout the globe are taking extra precautions today. Are you hearing about those sort of extra precautions and other sort of extra precautions . I havent heard of anything other than the state other than the canadn embassy in ottawa in terms of what the state department is doing. I think our diplomatic facilities are always on guard as much as possible, particularly in the wake of the benghazi attack on the consulate there in september of 2012. This is something that our diplomats deal with on a regular basis. This is something that they are, you know, prepared as much as they can be for. Of course, they are out and vulnerable in countries around the world for people who hate the United States or hate our allies. As krystal was saying, it has been one thing after the other, whether its isis or ebola or now a shooting. But what remains consistent, jonathan, is this feeling of fear that, i think, people are feeling all around the country right now. We have elections just less than two weeks away now. And i have no doubt this will have an impact on how people are feeling going in to vote on election day. I think thats right. And the evidence of that is the number of National Security focused ads. Weve seen one in the past couple of weeks. There seems to be a big spike in that, in particular i think what youve seen is a lot of republicans are targeting what you would Call Security moms from several election cycles ago trying to win back women voters on the question of National Security. And i do think thats an issue heading into this midterm. I think its probably one of the things negatively affecting Democratic Candidates it as looks like a little republican surge building in the last two weeks. In washington today, does it feel like a normal day, or have you sensed extra concerns given this attack in the capital city of an ally . It is a largely normal day. But at the same time, there has been some elevateded concern. The thing is, these days in washington, slightly elevated concern is a normal day. So, with the people in the capitol and the white house and around washington on higher alert at the pentagon on higher alert, thats not sadly over the last decade plus since 9 11, thats been all too common. Jonathan, do you think this attack in canada may turn the attention back to our own secret service and the lapses that were reported about their effectiveness on the job and their ability to keep the president and other highranking government officials safe . I think thats something thats been sort of on a slow boil for a while. I think it will continue to be something that we look at here. What you saw in the Canadian Parliament is all the more reason to think about the physical security of buildings and the people inside them, the balance between keeping an open society and also protecting the people and those big institutions. So, yeah, i think this feeds into that, that question of are we doing enough to protect our government officials and also our citizens who come to visit, to come to visit the white house, come to visit the capitol and other landmarks here. Obviously, theres josh earnest said nobody is closer to the United States than canada. Thats true. Not just in spirit, as i think he meant, but also in physical location. Yeah. Great point, jonathan allen, thank you so much. Up next, a former member of the Canadian Mounted Police who has a unique perspective on what happened there today. 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I was just passing just over here and all of a sudden just heard a schothot. Turned around and there was a guy with a rifle just around on the back corner. And just, pow, pow. And then i saw one of the other armed forces guys just running. And he came running. He barrelled over, just ran right over the other guy just dropped and then the other one just ran over. I just started running at that, enough to look back to just dive underneath and and then immediately called 911. The man who shot, what did he look like and what kind of weapon did he have . It was a rifle. Like a long barrelledrifle. Long i mean, again, i dont know what im supposed to say or not say. Was he dressed in uniforms . Was he dressed in skrchlt ivis . No, he was dressed in civilian clothes like a bandana up to his anything you can tell us about the color of anything he was wearing or there was theres actually a guy here that has a perfect picture of him. One of the bystanders, holding the rifle and everything. So, it shows a perfect description. An eyewitness there describing those terrifying moments when at least one gunman began shooting inside canadas capital today. A frightening situation for Police Responding today. Joining us by skype, chris mathers, former member of royal mounted police. Tell us about your view of the security precautions and reaction that occurred to this emergency incident as best you understand what happened today. What the viewers have to remember is this is canada, so its not a gun culture. Not even for Law Enforcement or intelligence agencies. And so, our Parliament Buildings are protected by a force, house of commons security force, which is not armed. In fact, the sergeantatarms, which is a parliamentary position, and in the olden days hes the guy that would even he isnt armed and hes an exmember of the rcmp, like myself. In this particular case im told by my colleagues, when he heard the gunfire, he went to his office where he had a weapon, came back and engaged the bad guy. We see the video here where it happened. As youre mentioning, canadas pride itself on handling security differently than other nations, especially as it relates to gun. As toure was reminding us earlier, in the year of 2013 there were only nine homicides. In 2012 there were only seven homicides. Thats pretty remarkable. But how well prepared is canada to deal with this situation, ongoing situation, like weve seen today . The problem here, i think, is that we have to figure out where the line is between extremism and Mental Health issues. Between extremism and Mental Health issues. The one that happened two days ago where a guy ran over a soldier and killed him, this guy was having mental problems. These events are often perpetrated by individuals who have significant Mental Health issues and only recently fixed on this ideology inspired online. They never left the country of their birth. Never went to the middle east. I think this may be a case where the person doesnt seem to be acting like someone with military strange. Military training. Canadas lack of guns in large parts makes it what it is, another guest saying it leaves them vulnerable in a situation like this. Would you like to see canada change in response to an incident dent tliek hlike this how they deal with guns. I dont think there be a change how citizens arm themselves because it is just not our culture here. I think you can see from the video that the Law Enforcement agencies have all the special weapons and certainly have the training to deal with this. I think the problem in our country is that many canadians identify themselves as different from mernz in thamericans in th not a gun culture, et cetera. You find very quickly that america and the United States, people dont disconcern over there. We will have to increase our security. And security usually increases after an event. Prior to 9 11, the most significant terrorist event in history started here in canada which was the bombing when an Indian Airlines plane was bombed here in canada. So we have had our share of terrorist activities. To the fact that Mental Health issue in quebec, are there known pockets of muslim extremism the way we know there are in the uk and france. We have had our share of that. We certainly have our share of geneva citizens running across with the extremists. Weve had issues with other westerns countries have no more or less than any other country. We are a country, as opposed to the United States which is a melting pot, we call our self a mosaic, we encourage people to keep their customs, language and cultures and religion when they come here. It makes the country very diverse, but at the same time sometimes they bring their world with them. Right thats an interesting broad view. Again we dont know what the motives are of the suspects, the fallen shooter, he appreciate your time. Still ahead we will put todays incident into a historical perspective. receptionist gunderman group. Gunderman group is growing. Getting in a groove. Growth is gratifying. Goal is to grow. Gotta get greater growth. I just talked to ups. They got expert advise, special discounts, new technologies. Like smart pick ups. Theyll only show up when you print a label and its automatic. We save time and money. Time . Money . Time and money. Awesome. Awesome awesome awesome awesome all awesome i love logistics. I was out for a bike ride. I didnt think id have a heart attack. But i did. Im mike, and im very much alive. Now my doctor recommends a bayer aspirin regimen to help prevent another heart attack. 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Do terroristic attacks on government tend to make government change historically or no . I think the resiliency of a democracy is that we dont over react to these situations that we preserve what makes us great, which is our freedom, our freedom of access, and freedom to approach our government officials. To do anything else would be a serious mistake and a winwin for the terror groups. So i believe we have the kind of resiliency we can protect ourselves in an unon strbtrusiv and still have our identity. You said we should be rethinking how we should secure our buildings. What should we be doing differently. I think one thing were not doing across the board that we should be doing is anticipating what may happen whax what are the unintended actions of the security we take now and what may happen in the future given the parallels that are occurring right now. We just dont seem to be way ahead of the curve at least in terms of what is made public. In terms of anticipating the future events seems like the most challenging part of the whole electioquation. Thank you so much. Continuing coverage of this story continuings with alex wagner. Terror in canadas capital. Today is a sad and trang tray for our city and our country. Several shootings in ottawa. Member of Canadian Forces died in todays shooting. There was a man with a rifle shooting at a bunch of people. Im here alone watching this entire thing unfold. Theres been a lot of intelligence about the potential of people being inspired by isis. Isis is calling for these lowlevel attacks. The Community Needs to continue to be aware of these individuals. Much of downtown ottawa is still under lock down this afternoon after gunmen terrorized canadas capital firing dozens of shots inside their parliament and killing one official. One gunman has been shot and killed. The violence began when the soldier, one of two standing guards was shot at the city