Ottawa Shooting: Shocking First Video of Gunman Inside Parliament

The first footage has emerged of the gunman who entered the Canadian Parliament in Ottawa.

A reporter from the Canadian news outlet The Globe and Mail managed to capture the exchange of gunfire inside the Parliament Hill building.

Over 30 shots can be heard in the exchange between Canadian authorities and the gunman. The outcome of the firefight is currently unknown but it is reported that one gunman has been shot dead inside the parliament.

Conflicting reports suggest that there may be more than one gunman involved in the attack.

Witnesses reported that a gunman shot a Canadian soldier at the Ottawa War Memorial before running towards the Canadian Parliament.

"Shots fired at War Memorial at 9:52am today; one person injured," Ottawa Police tweeted after the incident began.

Police have warned residents of Ottawa to stay away from windows and roofs as they continue to search for suspects despite early reports of a gunman being killed inside parliament.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper's director of communications tweeted that the North American leader "is safe and has left Parliament Hill".

The attack came a day after a 25-year-old Muslim convert was shot dead by police after he killed a Canadian solider and injured a second near Montreal.

Police said the man, Martin Couture Rouleau, had recently become influenced by radical Islam, with friends suggesting he acted in response to an appeal by the Isis (Islamic State) group for jihadi sympathisers across the world to launch "lone wolf" attacks on westerners "wherever they can be found".

Canada raised the terror threat level in the country from low to medium following the attack.