Yellowknife, NWT – Northwest Territories MP Dennis Bevington says the nation must be wary of overreaction in the wake of Wednesday’s Ottawa shooting.
Bevington was aboard a flight from Ottawa to Yellowknife at the time a soldier, identified as Cpl. Nathan Cirillo, was shot dead at the capital’s National War Memorial yesterday morning.
Cirillo, 24, leaves behind a young son.
Speaking from Arctic Council meetings in Yellowknife later that morning, Bevington told Moose FM: “Parliament Hill is kept open for pedestrian travel, and that is something that will probably come under review now.
“It serves the purposes of the terrorists to have a reaction that’s too strong, so we have to be careful about that.”
The parliamentary Sergeant-at-Arms, Kevin Vickers, has been hailed a hero for shooting dead the gunman inside parliamentary buildings.
Vickers, 58, spent a decade in the Northwest Territories in his former role as an RCMP officer.
The suspect has been identified as Canadian-born 32-year-old Michael Zehaf-Bibeau. Ottawa Police are now ‘satisfied’ only one gunman was involved.
Bevington had spoken to NDP colleagues by phone during Wednesday’s lockdown on Parliament Hill. He described how fellow MPs protected themselves as a firefight took place within parliamentary buildings.
“The 90 members of the NDP caucus were in the building right next to where the shooting took place,” he said.
“It was very shocking to them when 30, 40 or 50 shots rang out in that very confined space.
“Doors were locked and they had barricaded the doors with chairs and tables.
“For me, who has attended those caucuses many times over the years in the same location, I can understand their apprehension.”
CJCD Moose FM News
