Terror in Canada: There were gunmen on roof says Kiwi 24 Oct 2014
Ottawa resident says shock turning to anger and hard questions being asked about how gunman got so far.
A New Zealander in Ottawa was just a block away from the gunman who murdered a soldier and attacked Parliament in shootings that traumatised Canada's capital yesterday.
Wellington-born Mike Downey, like most Ottawans, was settling into a day at work when the unthinkable happened.
Mr Downey works at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) offices, 550m from the Parliament buildings, a similar distance from the National War Memorial.
At 9.52am, a gunman shot dead Corporal Nathan Cirillo at the memorial, a landmark many Canadians consider sacred ground.
There were unconfirmed reports the gunman then hijacked or stole a car and drove to the Parliament buildings, where at 9.54am, eyewitnesses saw armed police pursuing him.
"I couldn't hear the shots but we had word come through very quickly and went into a lockdown procedure," Mr Downey said.
The lockdown initially meant access to and from the CBC building was prohibited.
But with so many shots fired, nobody knew if the gunman had accomplices, so the CBC building entered a full lockdown.
Stairwells were out of bounds, elevators shut and staff security badges deactivated, as staff were told to stay away from windows.
Mr Downey said there were armed men on neighbouring rooftops but it was impossible to know who they were.
"The police and military at this point were putting snipers on our building and on all the buildings around us. But ... we didn't know if they were gunmen initially, or whose side they were on."
Meanwhile, the gunman rampaged in a hallway in Parliament until 56-year-old former Mountie Kevin Vickers shot him dead.
Outside, confusion remained, amplified by the novelty of an armed fanatic in normally peaceful Ottawa.
"People are really shocked," Mr Downey said. "It's probably similar to how you guys would be doing if it happened in Wellington."
A partial lift of the lockdown began as the business day drew to a close. Mr Downey was relieved to make it home to his wife and children in their home, about 20km from the city.
By nightfall, Mr Downey said shock was possibly wearing off for Ottawans, and another emotion replacing it. "I think anger would be the most common term I've heard today."
Mr Downey said Canada, like New Zealand, was proud of being a free and open society. He expected some of those freedoms to now be curtailed.
"People are understandably and rightly so asking some tough questions about how the gunman got right into the Parliament building. How did he get that far?" The attack followed an attack in Montreal just two days earlier. In both cases, Canadian citizens who converted to strands of fundamentalist Islam were believed to be the culprits.
Prime Minister John Key said the chances of a similar event occurring in Wellington could not be ruled out.
Parliamentary Service has beefed up security at the Beehive and surrounding precinct by restricting all access except for two doors. Officials said the measure was likely to be in place for several weeks.
- additional reporting: Isaac Davison.
- NZME.
by John Weekes
News
Hilary Timmins' Award-Winning UK Documentary Series To Inspire NZ Students
29 Jun 2020 Education
Dream Catchers, produced and directed by Hilary Timmins, celebrates the success stories of more than thirty inspirational New... more
New Zealand reaffirms support for Flight MH17 judicial process
7 Mar 2020 News
Ahead of the start of the criminal trial in the Netherlands on 9 March, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has reaffirmed the need to... more
Business
NZ Government's Economic package to fight COVID-19
17 Mar 2020 Business News
The Coalition Government has launched the most significant peace-time economic plan in modern New Zealand history to cushion the... more
NZ Government announces aviation relief package
19 Mar 2020 Business News
Transport Minister Phil Twyford today outlined the first tranche of the $600 million aviation sector relief package announced earlier... more
Living
Diversity was Key at New Zealand Trade Tasting in London
6 Jun 2022 Food & Wine
New Zealand Winegrowers Annual Trade Tasting was recently held in London, on Wednesday 4 May, in Lindley Hall.
It was the first... more
Kiwi author stuns Behind the Butterfly Gate
12 Jan 2022 Arts
Hidden behind the Butterfly Gate is where the secret has been kept for 76 years...
New Zealand writer Merryn Corcoran’s... more
Property
Fairer rules for tenants and landlords
17 Nov 2019 Property
17 NOVEMBER 2019
The Government has delivered on its promise to the over one million New Zealanders who now rent to make it fairer... more
New Zealand Government will not implement a Capital Gains Tax
17 Apr 2019 Property
The Coalition Government will not proceed with the Tax Working Group’s recommendation for a capital gains tax, Jacinda Ardern... more
Migration
Boosting border security with electronic travel authority – now over 500,000 issued
19 Nov 2019 Migration
19 NOVEMBER 2019
We’ve improved border security with the NZeTA, New Zealand Electronic Travel Authority, which helps us to... more
Christchurch reinstated as refugee settlement location
18 Aug 2018 Migration
18 AUGUST 2018
HON IAIN LEES-GALLOWAY
The announcement that Christchurch can once again be a settlement location for refugees... more
Travel
Gallipoli Anzac Day services cancelled
19 Mar 2020 Travel & Tourism
The New Zealand and Australian Governments have announced this year’s joint Anzac Day services at Gallipoli will be cancelled... more
New Zealanders advised not to travel overseas
19 Mar 2020 Travel & Tourism
New Zealanders advised not to travel overseas
more
Sport
The Skipper's Diary: Sir Richard Hadlee honouring his father and NZ's Forty-Niners
27 Oct 2019 Cricket
NZNewsUK London Editor Charlotte Everett spoke to Sir Richard Hadlee about why he’s chosen to publish his father’s... more
PREVIEW: All Blacks v England semi-final
26 Oct 2019 Rugby
The two most convincing quarterfinals winners are set to square off in a semifinal showdown for the ages when the All Blacks meet old... more
Columns
Gordon Campbell on the Gareth Morgan crusade
11 Nov 2016 Opinion
Gordon Campbell on the Gareth Morgan crusade
First published on Werewolf
The ghastly likes of Marine Le Pen in France and Geert ... more
Gordon Campbell on the US election outcome
10 Nov 2016 Opinion
Column - Gordon Campbell
Gordon Campbell on the US election outcome
Well um.. on the bright side, there (probably)... more
Kiwi Success
Congratulations to Loder Cup winner
26 Sep 2018 People
25 SEPTEMBER 2018
The Loder Cup, one of New Zealand’s oldest conservation awards, has been awarded to Robert McGowan for 2018... more
Appointments to New Zealand National Commission for UNESCO
16 Aug 2018 Appointments
16 AUGUST 2018Appointments to New Zealand National Commission for UNESCO
HON JENNY SALESA
Associate Education Minister Jenny Salesa is... more
Recruitment
Historic pay equity settlement for education support workers
14 Aug 2018 Recruitment
14 AUGUST 2018Historic pay equity settlement for education support workers
RT HON JACINDA ARDERN
HON CHRIS HIPKINS
Prime Minister
The... more
Historic pay equity settlement for education support workers
22 Aug 2018 Recruitment
14 AUGUST 2018Historic pay equity settlement for education support workers
RT HON JACINDA ARDERN
HON CHRIS HIPKINS
Prime Minister
The... more