Watch above: Edmonton MP Linda Duncan and Alberta MLA Ric McIver were two of the Alberta politicians in Ottawa during the shooting. Nancy Carlson reports.
CALGARY – Calgary MLA and former alderman Ric McIver came within metres of the Ottawa gunman Wednesday morning.
“It wasn’t the type of day that I expected it to be, that’s for certain,” McIver said after touching down in Calgary Wednesday night.
“My thoughts and my prayers go out to the victims of that violence and their families because they’re the ones that had the toughest day today.”
McIver says he and his chief of staff, who were in Ottawa for meetings, were outside when they heard the sound of gun shots. At first, McIver said he thought the gunfire was part of some sort of military training exercise.
“These shots clearly weren’t with any rhythm or cadence so I kind of presumed that there was trouble.”
Watch below: McIver recalls the moments after hearing shots fired in Ottawa
McIver’s wife, Christine, said in a tweet he was just leaving meetings on Parliament Hill.
Alberta Premier Jim Prentice said both McIver and Doug Horner were in Ottawa at the time, in the vicinity of the shooting, and could be possible witnesses.
MP for Calgary Centre North Michelle Rempel sent a message to her mother.
Edmonton-Strathcona MP Linda Duncan told Global News Wednesday afternoon she had been kept safe in a small room for six hours and counting.
“It’s very hard for us to tell what happened because, of course, we were only a wooden door away from the shooting.”
“It all began for us when we were sort of in the middle of our Caucus meeting in Centre Block,” she explained.
“Suddenly we heard a lot of gun blasts, very loud gun blasts. And very shortly, a security guard came in and he said ‘hit the floor.’ And some of the members barricaded the doors with tables.
“We then heard more gunshots. It turned out the gunman came right in the front door, and we don’t know … he was shot essentially right outside our door. We then were moved very quickly to another building where we’ve been ever since.”
Duncan said she’s in a room with about 60 other people.
“It was darn frightening,” she said.
“We were walking down those halls and you could smell the gunfire. It was just unbelievable.”
She said staff are still being kept in lock down, and the entire downtown core of Ottawa is basically shut down.
Duncan was supposed to be on a flight to Ukraine to monitor the election there. She’s not sure when she’ll be told it’s safe to leave.
“Thank God for the incredible security officers and police who came quickly to our aid.”
“It’s just beyond frightening, absolutely beyond frightening, and just so heartbreaking for Canada, where we thought we were a country where these things don’t happen.”
Duncan added there are still very few details about the incident and the shooter.
Comments