A 59-year-old woman who was found clinging to life after a vicious beating at a Christian Science Reading Room in downtown Ottawa has died from her injuries, police say. There are currently no suspects in the brazen, daytime attack.

The woman, who has been identified as longtime volunteer librarian Elisabeth Salm, was discovered with life-threatening injuries around 1 p.m. Thursday by another staff member as they arrived to begin their shift at the centre: part of a network of publicly accessible spaces for study and prayer administered by Boston-based Christian Science church.

“Upon arrival, we found a woman who had undergone a clear traumatic episode (and) we contacted (an) ambulance right away,” Insp. Jamie Dunlop of the Ottawa Police told CTV Ottawa. “We believe this incident may have (taken) place between 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. on Thursday.”

The woman had been working alone at the time, police say. She died in hospital Friday afternoon.

The incident is now being investigated as a homicide. Sexual assault investigators are also looking into the matter.

The brutal nature of the attack at a faith-based organization has rattled downtown Ottawa residents.

“Any time you have sexual assault, violence against women -- we know that it can happen anywhere,” Ottawa City Councillor Catherine McKenney told CTV Ottawa. “But to have something happen in broad daylight in the middle of the day in the downtown is always shocking.”

Anyone with information about the incident is being urged to contact Ottawa Police at 613-236-1222 ext. 5477 or by email at mcm@ottawapolice.ca. Tips can also be submitted anonymously by calling Crime Stoppers toll-free at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS) or by downloading the Ottawa Police app.

With files from CTV Ottawa’s Annie Bergeron-Oliver and The Canadian Press