A masked gunman who killed a soldier at Canada’s war memorial and stormed parliament before being shot dead by the ceremonial sergeant-at-arms was an Islamic convert, it has emerged.

A Canadian soldier standing guard at a war memorial in the country’s capital was shot dead yesterday, and gunfire then erupted inside Parliament, authorities said.

A gunman shot and wounded a Canadian soldier standing guard at a war memorial in Ottawa, then entered parliament, where numerous shots rang out, police and witnesses said.