TALLINN. Aug 11 (Interfax) - The Estonian Defense Ministry has been cordoned off by police after sounds of shooting were heard inside the building, the Postimees newspaper says.
It quotes a Defense Ministry official as saying that he heard the sounds of shooting from his office on the first floor and then quickly locked the door and got out of the window.
"I don't know what's happening there now because I am not inside. Policemen in bulletproof jackets are searching the area around the building," the source said, the newspaper reports.
The ministry's staff have left the building.
The first shot took place at 3:30 p.m. (4:30 p.m. Moscow time) and the second shot followed at 3:49 p.m., reports say.
Eyewitnesses claim that the shooter is still inside the building.
An ambulance arrived at the scene.
The Defense Ministry's press secretary Peeter Kuimet described the event as "an internal security incident." He did not elaborate.
The latest reports say there were three gun shots.
The shooter spoke Russian and took one person hostage, an eye-witness said.