A Kimberley woman, Allyson Grant, (full disclosure: daughter of Daily Bulletin Editor Carolyn Grant) is currently in the middle of the lockdown around Parliament Hill in Ottawa after a gunman shot at a soldier at the War Memorial and was reported to enter the Parliament building this morning.
Grant, 29, works in an office building on Metcalfe Street, less than two blocks from the Hill. She says she got to work this morning at 9 a.m. and by 9:40 they had heard through Twitter that something was happening.
“Someone in the office said she heard someone was shot on Parliament Hill. People were tweeting from Parliament. We decided to lock down our building ourselves. We went out and locked all doors on our floor, the stairwells and any other door that locked.”
They have also pulled all the blinds on their floor closed because of reports of a shooter on the roof.
Allyson says that thus far (noon Eastern time) her building had not been evacuated yet, but the street outside has been closed by police.
“There is a heavy police presence, there was a huge response from first responders. We are all very, very proud of how quickly the RCMP responded and very worried about the soldier who was shot.
“It's horrible.”
Despite being so close to the events, she and the other staff in the building are receiving no information first hand. They are following Twitter reports and news on TV.