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Soldier shooting in Ottawa has Nova Scotia MPs on lockdown
CBC News Posted: Oct 22, 2014 11:34 AM AT Last Updated: Oct 22, 2014 12:26 PM AT
VIDEO War Memorial shooting 0:30
Nova Scotia MPs are under lockdown after a soldier was shot at the War Memorial in downtown Ottawa.
Sydney-Victoria MP Mark Eyking told CBC News he and about a dozen MPs are locked down inside Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau's Ottawa office where they were meeting before the shooting occurred.
He said they've heard from police, security and the military who have told them to lay low and keep the door locked. Eyking says he feels safe but concerned. He doesn't know how long they'll be locked down.
A military officer at the Halifax Armoury on Agricola Street tells CBC News he was alerted to the situation in an email sent out to staff that advised members to be on alert and travel in twos.
Province House in Halifax has also beefed-up security. Police have swept the Legislature and all staffed have been asked to make sure they are wearing their IDs.
Back in Ottawa, Sandra Bales, speaking from Amherst MP Scott Armstrong's office, says she's lying on the floor with her office door locked as per instructions she received from Parliament security. She says Armstrong is downstairs in a caucus meeting and can't be reached.
'Lots of people screaming'
First responders at a shooting at the War Memorial in Ottawa on Oct. 22, 2014 (Daniel Thibeault/CBC)
"There’s no way to get a hold of him," says Bales. "I’m hoping he’s OK."
She’s the only one who works in the office and she says she's fine.
"I just spoke with security. They just came by and did a round of the hall with their guns drawn and assured me to keep the doors locked and stay low," she says.
"I heard lots of loud noise in the building, and lots of people screaming."
MP Rodger Cuzner, is also in Ottawa. He says all of Parliament Hill is on lockdown.
"We’re getting what we can off the television feed and the coverage. What we know is that our building is locked down here, Confederation Building, and we’re waiting to see what happens next," he says.
Cuzner says he spoke to the supervisor of the pages on Parliament Hill.
"She was very, very stressed and very animated. She said ‘I had heard the shots and there was somebody shooting so I just ran and I ran,’" he said.
"She was pretty shaken."