Police officer Michael Klarenbeek shot at Brampton, Ont. courthouse in stable condition

Ontario's Special Invesitgations Unit has confirmed a man suspected of shooting a police officer at a Toronto-area courthouse has been shot dead, CP24 reports.

Peel Region Police officer Const. Michael Klarenbeek was taken to Sunnybrook Hospital shortly after 11 a.m. ET after police responded to reports that a shooting had taken place at the Davis Courthouse in Brampton, Ont. The 53-year-old officer, who was providing security in the courtroom, is now reported to be in stable condition.

Early reports from the scene were confirmed by people at the courthouse via social media.

Several witnesses have tweeted from the Brampton, Ont., courthouse that they heard a shooting and that the building was locked down. One lawyer in the building says she was ordered to stay in her office for security reasons.

Const. Fiona Thivierge says the shooting occurred within the courthouse, but adds that the Special Investigations Unit has been called in and police are not allowed to provide any more information.

Thivierge says that because of the lock down situation police can not confirm if more people have been injured.

Alex Anderson said he was in the hallway of the first floor of the building when he heard a shot being fired.

"I heard one shot and I didn't think too much of it, I looked around and a lot of people froze," he told The Canadian Press.

"Then a series of shots that just went two, three, four, five. In that process, people were running. Everyone was scattering to the nearest courtroom that they can just get into."

The 22-year-old said he later emerged back into the first-floor hallway and saw what appeared to be a covered body lying on the floor near the building's entrance.

(With files from The Canadian Press, photo courtesy Alan Darragh)

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