A day after the Canadian capital in Ottawa was rocked by a terrorist attack, the city's police chief announced a lone gunman shot a soldier dead before being killed by gunfire in Parliament, reports The New York Times.

Most areas of Ottawa were under lockdown until Wednesday evening while law enforcement searched the downtown area. Thousands of workers were locked in the Parliament buildings and neighboring office buildings during the search. Parliament members were kept in security areas for nearly 10 hours before being released.

Police found no evidence of accomplices, Ottawa police Chief Charles Bordeleau told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation on Thursday.

The city center's typical daily bustle was interrupted Wednesday after a gunman used a shotgun to kill Cpl. Nathan Cirillo, a single father from Hamilton, Ontario, who was a member of the ceremonial guard at the tomb of the unknown soldier located at the National War Memorial. The assailant next stormed into the Parliament building where he fired several times before he was shot and killed outside two caucus rooms containing hundreds of Parliament members.

The gunman has been identified as Michael Zehaf-Bibeau of Vancouver, British Columbia. He had previously criminal convictions, though most were petty and drug related.

Two days earlier, Martin Rouleau-Couture, a Canadian who converted to Islam a year ago, used his car to run over two soldiers in a Quebec parking lot, killing one soldier and injuring another before Québec's provincial police fatally shot him.

There is speculation that the attacks are a result of Canada's assistance to the U.S. during its fight against the Islamic State, the militant group also known as ISIS. CBC News reported this week that in response to the U.S. request for help, Canada dispatched six fighter jets to attack ISIS targets in Kuwait.