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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees

Blaze of Gunfire at Canadian War Memorial in Ottawa; Another Person Jumped the White House Fence

Aired October 22, 2014 - 23:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening from Ottawa, Canada. With all tonight that we are learning about the killer who opened fire first at Canada's national war memorial, which is just a few blocks behind me killing a soldier there, and then inside the halls of parliament.

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COOPER: That was the scene this morning when the gunman's rampage ended with parliament sergeant at arms shot him dead. This evening, police have been slowly lifting the lockdown on parliament hill and in the city. Police say the alleged shooter, Michael Zehaf-Bibeau , was a recent convert to Islam with a criminal record and plans to fight overseas for radical Islam. More on that and what we know about him shortly.

But first, Randi Kaye with how this terrible day unfolded.

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RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): 9:52 a.m., a blaze of gunfire at the Canadian war memorial in Ottawa. One of two soldiers standing guard at the memorial is gunned down.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was locking my bike up. I heard four shots. I heard from that directs. I turned around and ran. And I saw one of the soldiers laying on the ground.

KAYE: Eyewitness Peter Henderson tells CNN the shots sounded like they came from a high-powered rifle. Other witnesses describe the shooter as a man with dark hair and a scarf on his head, carrying a huge rifle.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The man came around the corner of the prime minister's office, put the gun on his shoulder and fired four shots into the back of this soldier. It was clearly a target.

KAYE: Henderson says the soldier appears to have fallen backwards. Strangers and emergency personnel rushed in to try to save him as the gunman runs away. But this is just the beginning. Minutes later, a quarter of an hour later on parliament hill this terrifying sound echoes through the chambers.

It is now about 10:00 a.m. Witnesses report a gunman entered the main parliament building through an entrance meant for officials. He exchanges gunfire with security officers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I heard a rapid fire of what appeared to be about 20 shots or more. Very loud, it appeared to be fairly close.

KAYE: Canada's prime minister is quickly escorted along with some members of parliament to a safe location. But dozens remain inside on lockdown. They tweet to let others know they're safe. MP Michelle Rempel tweets, mom, I'm OK. I'm in hiding.

And this tweet from Senator Jim Munson reads in part, everyone safe, but shaken, heard plenty of gunfire. MPs say they could smell gunpowder.

By 10:30 a.m., a journalist inside parliament tells reporters he saw a body slumped over. It will be hours, though, before we get official word that the gunman is dead. Killed by sergeant-at-arms Kevin Vickers.

Four others reportedly injured in the attack including a security guard at parliament are taken to Ottawa hospital. Meanwhile, Ottawa police still don't know how many suspects they are looking for.

At 11:22 a.m., police tell CNN there may have been two or three shooters at the war memorial.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They do believe there is another gunman at large at this moment. He may be on the run.

KAYE: At 11:40 a.m., there is word of yet another shooting from police. This one a seven-minute walk from parliament, near Ottawa's center mall. Later, that report is discounted.

Just before noon, the U.S. embassy in Ottawa is locked down, and President Obama is briefed on the shooting. Then, just after 1:00 p.m., this grim news.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR, THE SITUATION ROOM: Sad news, the Canadian soldier who was shot at the war memorial in Ottawa has died.

KAYE: The soldier is identified as corporal Nathan Cerillo, a reservist from Hamilton, Ontario. Later this afternoon, more bad news, Ottawa's spokesperson confirms to CNN they are still looking for additional suspects. The last thing those in Ottawa needed to hear after such a terrifying day.

Randi Kaye, CNN, New York.

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COOPER: Terrifying day indeed.

Again, Canadian officials have identified someone they say is the killer, Michael Zehaf-Bibeau is his name. They say that before he converted to Islam he went by the name, Michael Joseph Hall.

Susan Candiotti has been looking to what we know about him. She joins us now live here. So what is the latest on him?

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, as you indicated, some of it, he converted to Islam. And he was born in Canada in 1982. He had a history of drug problems. And in fact series of drug arrests stating back years as well as reportedly some petty crimes, including for drug use, and even robbery, uttering threats against someone. Not clear whether he did any jail time. But then the picture becomes less clear.

COOPER: Do we know when he converted?

CANDIOTTI: You know, not exactly one how recently that was. But this important piece of information we are learning is that he had intended to travel overseas at one point telling people that he wanted to fight overseas. But his passport was seized. His travel was restricted. Authorities wouldn't let him go. And so, how recently that was we are not exactly sure. Still looking into that as well.

COOPER: So clearly, authorities were aware of this guy. I mean, if they knew enough to take his passport, they were clearly in some level monitoring him. We don't know how closely.

CANDIOTTI: Exactly. So many questions that are out there again as well, you know, why he wanted to, intend to travel overseas. There was talk that perhaps he wanted to study, take on religious studies and the like. But of course the overriding issue is, was he acting alone? Did he have any help?

COOPER: And do we know if -- I mean, has anybody made any connection between him and the other man who is a recent convert to Islam killed a soldier two days ago, also in Canada, and also wounded another soldier by hitting him with his vehicle.

CANDIOTTI: It certainly one of the things that they are looking at to see if there is a connection, but not has been made just yet.

COOPER: All right, Susan Candiotti, appreciate the update. Thank you very much.

Again, we are trying to learn as much as we can about this man who is now accused of this crime as man who was shot dead just a few blocks from where I am standing. The war memorial is behind me there and off then. In the other direction, couple hundred yard away is parliament hill.

So we are slowly learning more and more information about this man who was killed on the scene. Susan said we don't know if there was any connection between him, and the other man, convert to Islam who was killed two days ago, after running over, a police officer, excuse me, after hitting a soldier, and another soldier killing one soldier, wounding another. He was shot dead by police on the scene.

The area around here, slowly the lockdown has started to be lifted. There are still some buildings according to police and law enforcement authorities that are still being searched. It was not a complete lifting at this point. But obviously, they're continuing to search. And, again, we are trying to learn as much as we can in this hour.

I want to bring in somebody who was an eyewitness to the scene, Peter Henderson.

Peter, thanks very much for joining us. When did you first realize something was gone wrong?

PETER HENDERSON, EYEWITNESS: Well, Anderson, I was just coming into work this morning when -- and I just hooked up my bike when I heard four shots ring out behind me. I turned back to the war memorial.

COOPER: So you were close to the war memorial?

HENDERSON: Yes. I was just about 30 feet away. When I turned back, I saw that, there was almost nobody there except I did see one member of the ceremonial honor guard jumping over a hedge what I thought was taking cover.

COOPER: And that was the man who was taking cover. Because there were two, two soldiers there. One took cover the other was shot.

HENDERSON: Certainly later I realized that. And that's -- at first I thought it was just someone taking cover. But, it was shocking at first.

COOPER: Did you know immediately it was gunfire?

HENDERSON: I thought that sound like gunfire to me. And then I circled through all the things in my head. Could it be construction, could it be a car. It is so unlikely to hear something like that here in Ottawa, you know. I just --

COOPER: You didn't see the soldier who was wounded at that point?

HENDERSON: No. I didn't. As I got closer, I had my phone out just in case I needed to call 911. Let people know via social media.

COOPER: So you actually approached?

HENDERSON: Yes, it's at that point that I saw the, the fallen soldier. And begin to get closer and see, what I could do to help.

COOPER: Were other people responding to him at that point?

HENDERSON: Yes, just as I was walking up, I saw a member of Canadian forces and some other civilians, bystanders come up and beginning, doing CPR on the man. So I decided that, I heard someone call 911. I thought I would get to social media. I just tweet this out. Let people know there was an active shooter.

COOPER: And at that point had you seen the shooter at all?

HENDERSON: No, I begin to speak with bystanders all of whom, I gave me similar ideas of who the shooter was and how he, you know, headed in the direction of parliament.

COOPER: So people there had seen him and were telling you about him?

HENDERSON: Yes.

COOPER: Did they describe what he looked like?

HENDERSON: All of them sort of gave general, vague things. I think everybody was in some pretty serious shock at that point. But, they all said he was a man, you know, had his face covered, had long hair, hoody, had come around, and just shot one of the soldiers at pretty close range. And they, you know, for no apparent reason. I was close enough that, if the man had shouted something, if he had, if there had been a, confrontation I would have heard it. And I didn't hear anything.

COOPER: You know, it's one thing to read about this see it on television to actually have been there, how are you holding up?

HENDERSON: Well, it's been tough. You know, Ottawa is a sleepy city. And Canada is a sleepy country when it come to that. Just trying to, you know, get the story out. And, talk to people, and follow this as the it goes. And get whatever information I can out to people. That really helped me. But I think, you know the whole city is in shock tonight. And it's going to take a while for us, to really heal.

COOPER: Does something here change because of this? Or do you think it will be, something that people remember and, obviously, think about and pray for the family of the man who was lost but not fundamentally change.

HENDERSON: I think that it is such a symbolic gesture, you know, an attack on the war memorial in Canada's capital. You can't help but imagine that there will be changes to security, you know there were question about the response today, obviously, there were questions about, the approach to monitoring the man in the weeks leading up.

So, hopefully, from what I have seen today, just on social media and from some of the official statements, we hope that that change is for the better. That you know, we can safe guard our security and our civil liberties at the same time.

COOPER: Peter, thank you very much. I mean, brave thing to run toward when a lot of people would have run from.

HENDERSON: Thanks so much, Anderson.

COOPER: Appreciate it. Thank you very much.

A quick reminder, make sure you set your DVR so you can watch 360 whenever you like. We have a lot more throughout this hour.

Coming up next, President Obama, Canada's prime minister, and Ottawa's mayor, as our coverage continues. And also, looking was there a connection to a jihadist group like ISIS or someone else. Details on that ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Move back. Move back by the building.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now, now, now! Go!

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COOPER: The sense of immediate terror thankfully is over here in Ottawa tonight. The sense that things may no longer be the same here. That may remain for a while. This is the second lone Wolf style attack in this country in the last two days.

Tonight, Canada's prime minister Stephen Harper spoke to the nation about both.

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STEPHEN HARPER, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: This week's events are a grim reminder that Canada is not immune to the types of terrorist attacks we have seen elsewhere around the world. We are also reminded that attacks on our security personnel and on our institutions of governance are by their very nature attacks on our country, on our values, on our society on us Canadians as a free and democratic people who embrace human dignity for all. but let there be no misunderstanding. We will not be intimidated.

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COOPER: Canada's prime minister spoke to President Obama after the attacks. The president had this to say about what happened here today.

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BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I had a chance to travel to the parliament in Ottawa. I am very familiar with that area and am reminded of how warmly I was received and, how wonderful the people there were. And so, obviously, were all shaken by it. But we are going to do everything we can to make sure that we are standing side by side with Canada during this difficult time.

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COOPER: Joining me now is a member of parliament, John McKay.

Mr. McKay thanks very much for being with us on this difficult day. You just entered the parliament building I understand. Did you hear the shots?

JOHN MCKAY, CANADIAN PARLIAMENT: Yes, I did. I was literally taking off my coat going the caucus room and hear this boom, boom, boom. And, you don't really know what it is. I actually thought it was construction. And then the security people came rushing down the halls and ushered us out the back door.

COOPER: What is your main message then? What concerns you most about this? Obviously, the loss of life of the soldier, the wounding of the security personnel in the parliament, in terms of the big picture, what worry you most?

MCKAY: The big picture is that I fear for the loss of our democratic freedoms. I hold it almost sacred that citizens should be able to access the legislators and legislators should be able to access their citizens on a relatively unimpeded basis. And events like today will necessarily create barriers between citizens and legislators. And I don't think that's good for a democracy. And I think our response needs to be wise. It needs how to be thoughtful. It needs to be powerful. It needs to be effective. It need to be transparent.

COOPER: You are afraid of a response out of anger or fear or --

MCKAY: Paranoia or whatever. That's right. And drawing conclusions where, you haven't got the facts quite straight. And, that, that does make me concerned.

COOPER: What about -- I mean, how concerned are you about the threat of radical Islam? Of people self radicalizing or people, you know, watching videos online and wanting to go fight or, or bring the battle here?

MCKAY: It is a very serious concern. I cannot underestimate that one. (INAUDIBLE) which has a significant mass in population. And it is my intention when things settle down a bit to meet with the (INAUDIBLE) and leadership of the community and get into real serious dialogue about how this happens. We take some considerable pride in this country that we have mixed pretty well every racial, ethnic, religious group known to mankind with some considerable success. And I would hate to see that be lost.

And so, I think it is my role as a legislator to try to bring people together and, and, deal with what are arguably elements within our society that no democratic society can tolerate.

COOPER: John McKay, appreciate your time. Thank you very much.

MCKAY: OK, thank you.

COOPER: There is a lot to talk about throughout this hour on this difficult day here in Ottawa. A short time ago, I spoke with another busy public official, Ottawa's mayor Jim Watson.

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COOPER: To have an attack, a soldier killed at that memorial, I mean, it really strikes at the heart of the city of this country.

MAYOR JIM WATSON, OTTAWA, CANADA: It does. And then to have that suspect allegedly go up to parliament hill and if he hadn't been shot by I believe our sergeant at arms there could have been an even greater tragedy in our city. So it is a very sad time for the family obviously of the soldier, a young gentleman who wanted to serve his country. And this is a relatively new program where we have honor guards, guarding the tomb of the unknown soldier just up the street from the parliament hill.

COOPER: How concerned are you about people who have been radicalized in Canada and I mean we know this man any passport was, taken away by Canadian authorities just as the man two days ago who killed a soldier with a vehicle his passport was also taken away. How big a problem do you believe there is in the city?

WATSON: I think for too many years we, you know, thought of ourselves as immune from some of the international global terrorism. And obviously, situation like this, we had another soldier killed two days ago in the province of Quebec. It is worrisome.

You know, we, at the same time, we don't want to turn parliament hill into a fortress. You know, we pride ourselves on having a very open, accessible, approachable government. And democratic setting. But at the same time, these kind of incidents are going to happen the we have to be prepared for them. And we have to --

COOPER: There had been calls, I think it was two, may actually, 2010, to have -- all of the security forces, multiple different agencies. Guarding parliament to actually have them unified. Do you think that is now more likely to happen?

WATSON: I think certainly, it is probably going to move in the direction because there is Senate security force and House of commons and then the RCMP. You know, our broken and our police patrol the grounds. And then outside of the grounds, it is the Ottawa police. I think our first responders, the police and the paramedics did an excellent job. I don't think there were jurisdictional turf wars. But obviously, a lot of questions asked when someone with a rifle of some sort could get into the parliament building in the first place.

COOPER: And what is your message to the citizens in the city about the concerns about radicalization. Obviously, it is going to topic of much discussion.

WATSON: Well, it will be. I think we have to put it in context. And wait until we see all the results of the police investigation first and foremost. But mostly, pray for the family of the soldier that was killed. That should be first in our thoughts.

Secondly, just find a little bit more exactly what happened. You know, how are these young people being indoctrinated and lured into this lifestyle? Because you know, we, like Americans, have a very good quality of life. A lot of opportunity for people. New Canadians that come to our shores. And, you know what is driving people to go towards this kind of evil that would go and shoot an unarmed soldier guarding the tomb of the unknown soldier in our capital city? It is a very, very sad tragic day for our city and for our country.

COOPER: Certainly is. Mr. Mayor, appreciate your time. Thank you very much.

(CROSSTALK)

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COOPER: And the mayor of Ottawa.

As always, you can find out more on the story and others CNN.com.

Just ahead, another breaking story that we are following. The scare at the White House, just hours after the shootings here at Ottawa, someone jumping the White House fence yet again. We'll have latest on that.

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COOPER: Hey, welcome back.

Here in Ottawa tonight, the question officials have not been able to answer was, was today's deadly attack directly connected to is or some other radical organization. We simply don't know. But what about the attack earlier this week in Quebec, where a radicalized man mowed down two soldiers with his car killing one of them.

CNN's Jim Sciutto joins us tonight on that.

So Jim, what -- I mean, how much do we really know about any connections either between these two people if there were any or to either of them in any kind of group?

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, they don't know for sure. They have indicators. One that he was a convert to Islam. Two, that the target was a soldier, a typical target just like the attack earlier of the week with the car. And three, there had been threes previous attacks. And there has been Chatter. And there has been a call to arms in Canada, frankly, as there has been in the U.S. from Isis but also other groups. Al-Qaeda and others have encouraged young Muslim men to carry out jihad on their home soil. That's an indicator.

So today's attack, no hard tie. The attack earlier this week, Canadian authorities said they were aware that the man who drove his car into the soldier earlier this week was a consumer of ISIS propaganda. Not necessarily in touch with the group. But inspired by that group.

COOPER: And at this point, I mean, it is very possible that there was no direct connection between either of the guys. That -- I mean, we don't know if they knew each other at all. It is very possible that the man today may have just seen what the guy did two days ago and decided, I am going to act in a similar fashion?

SCIUTTO: It is. He could have been inspired by that or he could have separately been inspired by ISIS or Al-Qaeda propaganda encouraging people to carry out jihad at home. And this is, this is a concern, not just north of the border, but very much south of the border as well. I interviewed the former director of the NCC, the national counterterrorism center yesterday, Matthew Olsen. And he said to me in his view, the attack most likely to occur in the U.S. homeland is not something coming from, AQAP or other groups. But it would be a lone Wolf attack and oneself radicalized at home.

And one of the reasons for that, Anderson is that they're part of the track, you know. There is no border crossing for them to go through with the passport that is on the list because they're already here. There is no phone call to be intercepted between them and operative in Pakistan or in Syria because they're already here and they could have just seen something on the Internet and been inspired to carry out violence.

COOPER: And what's obviously frustrating for law enforcement officials here and something they're looking at is clearly both these guys were on the radar of law enforcement in Canada. They took away their passports. And yet they weren't able to actually hold them on any charges because until they actually killed people they hadn't apparently done anything wrong the law enforcement could actually arrest them for.

Jim Sciutto, we are going to continue to follow this throughout the night.

I want to bring in our national security analyst Bob Baer and Juliette Kayyem. Bob, obviously, is a former CIA officer. Juliette is the former U.S. assistant secretary for homeland security.

Bob, if this was in fact a lone Wolf attack, what does it say about how Canada and for that matter the United States can better guard against this particular kind of threat. Because, I mean, it is relatively easy for somebody to get a weapon and commit this kind of act. You can't have security everywhere nor would anybody want to have that level of security.

ROBERT BAER, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Exactly, Anderson. All of these buildings, whether Washington, D.C. or Ottawa or Paris or London are all vulnerable, especially to an ISIS like attack where they use a suicide bomber to knock the door down and get inside.

I mean, the changes we would have to make to protect our buildings are almost impossible. But speaking to the ability of the Canadian police and FBI to track these people down. As you said they haven't commit aid crime. They're self recruited. The weapons are easily available. You can make this stuff off Internet formulas and you can do an attack. We are just entirely vulnerable. And there is not much we can do about it. And especially threats from lone wolves.

COOPER: And Juliette, I mean, to Bob's point, is this (INAUDIBLE) that a lot of countries are in. Canada seized this guy's passport. I mean, they seized the passport of the guy on Monday. He couldn't travel. But also meant he was in Canada to wage today's attack.

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: That's right. I mean, that's the sort of cat-and-mouse aspects of counterterrorism efforts right now especially with these lone wolves. You know, I sometimes say it is a little bit like whack-a-mole, that there is just going to be these emerging men, mostly men, who become self radicalized. They identify with ISIS but not at all clear how strong their ties are to ISIS. And sometimes you will get them. But all they need to do is be successful once as we saw today. This is very likely, you know -- and as we saw Monday. So that you have two incidences that is happening back to back. And it is almost impossible to detect in a democracy. And that some of the best efforts tend to be sort of engagement with communities, especially diverse communities what you see in Ottawa, and what the mayor was talking about. But it is never going to be perfect in open society. And I think we need to brace ourselves for that.

COOPER: And never going to be perfect, Bob. And also, I mean there is no necessarily, end in sight to the potential threat. I mean whether it is Al-Qaeda before this or, you know, Al-Qaeda central, Al-Qaeda Arabian peninsula, now it is ISIS, and once, they're destroyed, there will very easily be yet another group out there.

BAER: Exactly, Anderson. You know, we got rid of bin Laden, 2011. But ISIS is -- you know, Al-Qaeda 2.0. It will completely change between now and the next five years with a new threat, new leadership. We simply can't take them out with drones.

As long as there is conflict in the Middle East and as long as we are engaged in that conflict. Whether we are on the side of the right side. It will come back home. If Canada had joined our efforts and this month and Syria, and Iraq, and I think that is probably why they got hit. Whatever these people have self recruited or sent. They are reacting to the conflict in the Middle East. So if it gets worse there, we are more likely to get hit here.

COOPER: So Juliette, you know, I was thinking, you and I worked in Boston together in the wake of the Boston bombings. And you know, that city was essentially locked down for quite a while. What do you make of how long the lockdown lasted here in Ottawa? Not only that but prime minister Harper's specific location was not disclosed when he made his address tonight.

KAYYEM: Yes. I tend to defer to intelligence agency that are protecting the prime minister or president, they just had to make a judgment call today that it wasn't secure. I was surprised how long the lockdown took place. I think it suggests that we saw with Boston that narrative will change and the story line will change. We have already gone from maybe two, three, to possibly only one. So reserving judgment on the facts as well.

But it was a long lockdown because they probably simply had too much information coming in about different gun fights going on. When we look back at it a week from or two from now it is probably that that was police fire, firing back to one assailant. But we just simply don't know right now. And just, you know, to protect, essentially, Congress in Canada. It was a long time. But probably worth it at this stage.

And the one question I have is why was this guy on the intelligence list, why did they keep his passport? Because if we are going to learn anything from this, and I guess that is the goal in end, because we will never stop it totally. Why was -- what information led them to take the passport or stop him from traveling and what can we learn from that? What can Canada learn from that to determine who -- what pool of people might be the most, the largest threat to us?

COOPER: Yes, it is a good point. It is a good point. Juliette Kayyem, appreciate it. Bob Baer, as well.

We have more now on thankfully nonlethal incident back in Washington that nonetheless raised some concerns. Yet another person jumped the White House fence. Jim Acosta joins us right now with details on that.

So I understand, secret service have identified this person. What do we know?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: He has been identified by the secret service as Dominique Adesanya from Bel Air, Maryland. That's just outside Washington, D.C.

Secret service spokesman said Adesanya climbed the fence, running along the north lawn of the White House at around 7:15 this evening. And almost immediately, the secret service released their canine dogs on the man. He tried to fight them off. But he was quickly subdued by secret service officers. So this all went down in a matter of second.

Adesanya, we are told, was unarmed. But he was bitten several times, I am told. And so, he was taken to the hospital and the charges are pending. As for the dogs, Anderson. They were taken to a vet for injuries that they sustained in the fight with defense jumper. And all this happened while the president, we should note, was at the White House this evening. He was never in any danger. And the situation there is back to normal.

COOPER: Do we know -- I mean, have they release details about, you know, his state of mind, why he would do this, he is just some crazy nut? I mean, do we know why?

ACOSTA: You know, we don't know at this point. You know, I think we will find out over the next couple days. I'm sure he will make a court appearance. And we'll find out more from the officers at time that happened previously with the other fence jumper incident.

The officers with the secret service provided affidavit that detailed what that person said during that incident. So we may get the same thing again. But it is important to note, Anderson. This jumper tonight made it only about 15, 20 yard inside of the White House fence. So not very far compared to the person a month ago who got inside the White House and was in there some time before he was subdued.

But we should mention that this person was able to, this person tonight was able to get past two sections of fencing. There is a temporary fencing that has been set up that was installed after last month's fence jumper. And plus, the regular wrought iron fencing that surrounds the White House. So the secret service may have to take another look at that fencing around the White House and whether it is sufficient to keep intruders out, Anderson.

COOPER: All right, Jim. Appreciate the update, Jim. Thanks very much, Jim Acosta.

Next, we have some tense moments inside parliament. The moment of the shooting captured on video. The latest on what we know now happened inside that building. Coming up. We will be right back.

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COOPER: We spent a lot of time on the alleged gunman tonight obviously because there is still a lot authorities are trying to investigate on him and understand about him, his motivation, potential ties to the extremist and obviously, race concern about additional threats.

We do want to focus on the man who was killed today. And we should a lot more time on the fallen soldier, corporal Nathan Cerillo is his name. I hope you will remember the name, Corporal Nathan Cerillo. He is being described tonight as a big-hearted, happy soul, in addition to military reservist, who is also a personal trainer, a commanding officer for his unit in Hamilton, Ontario, talked briefly about the loss they're all feeling.

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The regimen wishes to express his sincere condolences to the family of Corporal Cerillo as well as to express their thanks that has been demonstrated by the support of Canadian across this country.

Corporal Cerillo was a very proud member of the (INAUDIBLE) highlanders of Canada. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: As are our thoughts and prayers as well.

CNN's Paula Newton in Hong Kong right now, based she is in Ottawa, and obviously knows the area well. Her husband is a diplomat. He was in lockdown after the shooting today. She joins us now.

Paula, I mean, I think for people who aren't from here, it's hard to underestimate what a shock this is to this city. I know you know the area very well. What is security like at parliament hill? Because I understand it is a number of different security forces which actually oversee security there?

PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And it is one of the things that is going to be on the table for them to look at. I mean, look, Anderson always going to have to be a compromise. They always said, the mayor told you it wasn't going to be a fortress. At the same time, by blocking the access to cars they thought they had it covered. Metal detectors, they're not at the door where the suspect burst through. You can get through there without having to go through metal detectors. And obviously, that is a key thing.

The other thing is the perimeter. They can in some way, shape, form set up a perimeter around it. But Anderson, let's face it. You see that huge green patch in front of parliament hill, everyone must be looking at. I played with my kids on the lawn. I had them there as babies.

These are Canadian values in terms of being able to be open and free on the lawn. They will I'm sure still try and find a compromise to try to have a secure parliament, but still be, have people free to enjoy it. I can tell you they say that they will be back in the house of commons in that building 10:00 a.m. tomorrow morning to start the government business of the day.

COOPER: A show of strength and resilience no doubt about that. I mean, how easy would it have been for this gunman to access the prime minister? I mean, I understand, you know because there was, this caucusing going on, it could have been much worse. I mean, there could have been, you know, much greater fatalities had this guy gotten further in?

NEWTON: Absolutely. And that's what really rattled me. I mean, I have been down that corridor hundreds of times. That corridor that he went down on the left would have been the prime minister with his entire caucus. He probably only missed him by 15, 20 minutes.

The thing is that you would like to think in terms of what happened somebody would have gotten to him in the meantime. But still, just to be down that corridor where all those Canadian politicians were, where the prime minister was due to be in just a few minutes. One of the things in the investigation we'll see if that was preplanned or in fact it was just an awful coincidence for that very day.

COOPER: All right. Paula Newton. I appreciate it. And I'm glad your husband is, is good.

Susan Candiotti joins us now again to discuss a new information and understand you have been working sources. What are you hearing?

CANDIOTTI: According to one of our sources, it turns out the suspect in the shooting had traveled to the United States at least four times including most recently, Anderson, in 2013. And also, that he had yet another alias, in addition to the one we told you about before, last name Hall, this one is Abdul Zehaf-Bibeau. So yet another alias.

But we are also hearing from the "globe and mail," that a friend of his reports seeing him just a few weeks ago at a mosque in Vancouver and that the suspect told this friend that he had wanted to travel overseas to study Islam. So we are still working on that angle as well. More information trickling in about the suspect.

COOPER: We still don't know when his passport was take away at this point?

CANDIOTTI: Still working on that. Don't know that yet.

COOPER: All right, Susan Candiotti, appreciate the update.

There is a lot more ahead. We are going to take a short break. When we come back we are going to talk to someone who shot remarkable video that you saw today in inside the parliament. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Welcome back. The images that we have been showing you a lot today that riveted the world really all day comes come Josh Wingrove. He is a reporter for a Canada's newspaper, "globe & mail." He has been inside parliament all day and much of the evening and he joins us now. Thanks very much for being -- when do you actually get out?

JOSH WINGROVE, REPORTER, GLOBE & MAIL: Just moments ago. I mean, we were in a lockdown for about 12 hours. And then, afterwards, I was deemed a witness, so I had to go tell police, more or less, to read the "globe & mail" tomorrow. And that is where we are right now.

COOPER: So explain, when you first realized something had gone terribly wrong?

WINGROVE: Yes. You know, I was sitting in an alcove. It is a very common thing to be there on the Wednesday morning. So when the MPs gather for their weekly caucus meeting. In other words, (INAUDIBLE) so that is why we were there. And I was writing. I had my ear phone in. I heard the first bang which I thought was a bookshelf falling. I took out my headphones. And it was very clear that it wasn't. So we peer around the corner, I peered around the corner, And you could see smoke in the air, you could smell gunpowder quickly. You saw guards with their guns drawn. And they were bracing against pillars. And it looked like more of a hunt than a chase at that point. I don't think they knew where the guy was.

And that, so I came down the hallway. As we rounded the corner, that's where the video, and, a lot of people have seen. Picks up. You saw there, a lot of the guards rung up what is called hallway of honor. Some sort of the center spine of parliament right down the middle. And it goes towards the library. And, and that's, that's where they moved. And resulted in the second round of gunfire, that is the one on video.

COOPER: So that was in the hallway, the gunfire?

WINGROVE: Yes, in a center hallway.

COOPER: Did you actually see shots being exchanged?

WINGROVE: Yes, yes. The video, we see, must have been, I remember there has two dozen or so, it was a blur. But you see almost all of the shots. All of them would come from guard rather than from a shooter. A lot of them had pistols drawn. They were flanking down the hallway. And it looked like the guy popped out. And they fired a lot. There was a tremendous amount of bullets fired.

COOPER: Let me just play for viewers. Let me play with the audio so people can hear the exchange. Let's listen to that. (VIDEO CLIP PLAYING)

COOPER: Did you take your camera out right away and start recording?

WINGROVE: Yes, my blackberry, actually.

COOPER: I used to have a blackberry.

WINGROVE: Yes, I do. Canadian, and so we had the blackberry rolling. There are few clips that we shot. That was the second one. And obviously, the, the thing where most relevant information happened. And as you saw, you know, it must have been, it was funny. I saw it only for the first time a few hours ago. And it felt like I was watching it for the first time. When you are up in front it blurs together. So when you watch it first time. Sort of got a sense, again, of what it was like.

COOPER: And how closer was the prime mini minister?

WINGROVE: So, as you see them moving up the hallway, there is a door. Brown box there. In the door was the prime minister. They're caucusing right there. On the other side was the NDP, the official opposition party. There would have been upward of 300 MPs and senators in either door, you know, both doors. Doesn't look like they went in there. But it was very close. Whether planned or not this was a time that would have maximized the number of senators and parliamentary MPs in the building. And of course, you know --

COOPER: I mean, had the gunman been able to kind of penetrate deeper into the building, he could have very easily got into these MPs, got into the prime minister.

WINGROVE: Yes. Speaking to MPs there. It sounds it was like quite chaotic. Of course, some of them are older. Some of them have mobility issues. They weren't able to sort of flee, they heard gunshots and fled like the rest of everyone.

I mean, as I understand it protocol was to lockdown their room, judging by the fact that a lot of them fled out of the room. Doesn't seem like that happened. So yes, I think a lot of the conversation going forward will be about security. This kicked off in the rotunda. This is the big open area walk into parliament. Any tourists been to parliament know what I am talking about. And there is a door right on the front. This is a normal door. There is a couple guard on it and MP staff. Journalists in the press gallery walk in and out. No metal detectors nothing.

Given that it started there. It suggests, an eyewitness account suggests he came in that way. Yes, so I think we are going to see robust review of how things are done. It was a surreal day here. And I think things won't be quite the same in parliament for quite some time.

COOPER: Well, I mean, I'm glad you are safe. And that you had the presence of mind to, to press that record button. Thank you so much.

WINGROVE: My pleasure.

COOPER: Give my best to your family.

WINGROVE: Thank you. Thank you very much.

COOPER: There is a lot more to cover ahead. When we come back, we are going to talk to the brother of man who is being hailed as a hero. The Sergeant of arms, Kevin Vickers who shot the gunman dead. We'll talk to his brother coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Welcome back. We are live in Ottawa.

I want to show you a picture that we just got. It was taken inside parliament just -- we are told, shortly after the shooting began. It is actually of a barricade being set up inside parliament. In a room, obviously, when, when legislators inside that room were not exactly sure what was going on. They were barricading themselves in as best as possible.

Tonight, sergeant at arms Kevin Vickers is being called a hero. Several parliament members say that Vickers is the one who shot the attacker, shooting the gunman before he could do any more harm. Vickers is 29-year veteran of the Royal Canadian mounted police. He was director of Security operations at the house of commons before being appointed sergeant of arms.

I spoke with his brother, John Vickers, earlier tonight. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: John, thank you so much for being with us. I understand you first heard that your brother shot and killed this gunman while, while watching television this morning. What was your reaction?

JOHN VICKERS, KEVIN VICKERS' BROTHER: Well, you know, from a family perspective, just a lot of concern to hear that gunfire. And then hear my brother's name mentioned over and over again. Certainly, it was just real concern about his well-being and as the day progressed it was, an extraordinary relief to know that he was OK. And -- and at the same time very, very proud of what he had to do today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: That is the brother of the man being hailed as a hero, the Sergeant at arms tonight. It has been quite a day here in Ottawa. We will be here again tomorrow night reporting on all the latest developments and what we know about those soldiers whose life was lost. We are going to try to learn as much as we can about him and honor his sacrifice. And of course, also about the shooter to find out about the hate links he may have had or he was acting on his own.

CNN, our coverage though, continue live now with CNN International.