Ottawa shooting: MPs Gary Goodyear, Frank Valeriote describe chaos
Cambridge Conservative MP Gary Goodyear and Guelph Liberal MP Frank Valeriote were both on Parliament Hill in separate caucus meetings when a lone gunman, later identified as Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, stormed the building on Wednesday.
"The terrifying part of it, I think for everyone, was you could locate where the shots were coming from because we were that close. Which meant we could follow the now-rapid fire from the one side of the committee room we were in, right down the centre hallway to the main doors and within seconds the whole area was erupting with gunfire," Goodyear told The Morning Edition host Craig Norris on Thursday.
Adding to the anxiety was the fact that MPs had no idea who fired the rounds, and if they were aimed at the caucus chambers where they'd taken cover.
"Most of that gunfire as it now turns out was not from the shooter, it was actually from our security forces so we were in a situation where we heard multiple gunshots – some are reporting 30 or 50, I would estimate it was much higher than that – and very rapid, semi-automatic type of fire. It was quite horrifying."
Meanwhile, Liberal MP Frank Valeriote said while there was a feeling that people may be in serious danger, they also had faith in Parliament Hill security.
"We all felt very safe in those rooms yesterday. There was security that came upon the hill so very quickly and I applaud all of our first responders and security at Parliament Hill. They did a remarkable job."