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Shooting on Parliament Hill: What CBC's raw camera footage shows

On the morning a gunman ran right in the front door of Parliament Hill's Centre Block, CBC/Radio-Canada had assigned three different camera crews to cover the weekly party caucus meetings. When shots rang out, news instincts kicked in: each bravely pressed the record button. Watch the uncut footage here.

3 CBC/Radio-Canada camera crews on Parliament Hill as shots rang out

RAW: CBC's Parliament Hill shooting footage - Viewer discretion is advised. Packaged by Chris Rands

10 years ago
Duration 23:02
On the morning a gunman ran right in the front door of Parliament Hill's Centre Block, 3 CBC/Radio-Canada camera crews were inside. Here's their footage, packaged by CBC producer Chris Rands. (Viewer discretion is advised.)

On the morning a gunman ran in the front door of Parliament Hill's Centre Block, CBC/Radio-Canada had assigned three televisioncrews to cover thearrival of MPs and Senators to weekly party caucus meetings.

When shots rang out, news instincts kicked in and they started recording.

The lenses and microphones of JeanBrousseauand MartinBlais, Mike dePauland DannyLeduc, and Yves Levesque became our eyes and ears, witnessing a scarychapter in Canadian parliamentary history.

Thefootage, some of it not yet broadcast, is a real-time record as the emergency unfolded.

Throughout, the television crews, other journalists and security guards talk to each other, expressing shock, fear and confusion.

What to watch for

Here's some ofwhat you can learn fromthe raw footage:
The Globe and Mail reporter Josh Wingrove walks down the hall towards the House of Commons foyer after using his smart phone to film the shooting on Parliament Hill. (Mike dePaul/CBC)
  • The shooting itself is not visibleon tape, but all three cameras recorded audio of gunshots. On the Brousseau tape,shot closest to the action, you can hear yelling, then a single shot, then a pause, then another single shot, then another pause, then a lot of yelling, then another single shot, a pause and then a barrage of gunfire. Although the hallway has many echoes, the single shots sound different from the barrage. It's possible, based onwhat's been revealed about the gunman's weapon and how many bullets he would have had left after a confrontation at the front doorthat left one officer injured, that the single shots are from the gunman's weapon, but further investigation would be required to confirm this.
  • On the Levesque tape from one floor below, there's some soundand yelling suggesting a reaction to the initial exchange of gunfire closer to the front door, and then a longer gapbefore everyone reacts to the sounds of more gunfire upstairs in the Hall of Honour. This may givean indication of the passage of time as the shooter moved down the hall.
  • Globe and MailreporterJoshWingrove, who was in the hallway andshot the scene on his smart phone, appears several times, but most significantlyat 2:02 and 10:44. He'swearing a blue wind breakerand can be seen walking down the middle of Hall of Honour after the shooter and later towards the House of Commons foyer, with guards shouting athim. Elsewhere, you can hear him on his phone,describing what happened.
  • Time elapses between the security breach at the front door and the point where security personnel can be heard yelling "lock the doors" to prevent anyonefrom entering or leaving.At other times, confusion ensues as TV crews ask where they should go and it's unclear how the building should be evacuated.
  • Ottawa Police and Prime Minister Stephen Harper's RCMP protection detail arrive later. At one point, TV crews told to stayin the foyer of the House of Commons are yelled at suddenlyand toldto put their hands in the air.
  • NDP MPs Jonathan Genest-Jourdain and Lysane Blanchette-Lamothe were in the members lobby outside the House of Commons after the shooting. Blanchette-Lamothe's infant son needed to be breastfed so she had left the NDP caucus meeting. (Jean Brousseau/CBC)
    Crews that were being held in the Commons foyer are let into an area they can't normally go, closer to the actual House of Commons chamber. There they film officers with guns going up and down the rows of desks. In the lobby, we can seeNDPMPLysaneBlanchette-Lamotheholding her two-month-old son, Evan. Just before the shooting, she'd left caucus to breastfeedin the normally quiet and private members lobby.Fellow MP JonathanGenest-Jourdainis with her.
  • Sergeant-at-Arms KevinVickers, still holding his handgun, checksa room connected to the Conservative caucus room at 11:27. (Sources say he enteredafter the shooting and toldMPs"I engaged the suspect and the suspect is deceased.")
  • House of Commons Security Constable Samearn Son was filmed limping away from Centre Block after confronting the gunman at the front door and taking a shot to his leg. (Yves Levesque/CBC)
    On the Levesque camera, the scene outside the front doors of Centre Block is unfolding just as the camera and reporter are let out an emergency exit. House of Commons Security Constable Samearn Soncan be seen at19:50, down on one knee after being shot and wounded when he tried to stop the gunman at the front door by grabbing his gun. A witness can be heard asking, "Are you okay?" He replies "I'll survive." You can see him walk with a limp only later didwe learn why.
  • Scenes from the Parliament Hill shooting

    10 years ago
    Duration 5:17
    CBC/Radio-Canada cameras witness a scary chapter in Canadian parliamentary history. Producer: Chris Rands (Viewer discretion is advised.)

    From normal to terrifying in seconds

    The morning had started like any other caucus day.

    Conservatives and New Democrats met in large committee rooms across from each other in the centralHall of Honour. Liberals metin a smaller room on the first level.

    Reporters scrummedMPsand senators on their way in. Then the meetings began normally a time for journalists to pause and regroup.

    None of the cameras were rolling at the precise instant the gunman entered the building. All three operators hit the record buttonwhen they realized something unusual was happening.That's where this footage begins.

    The only cut we've made isa five-minute section from dePaul's tapethat showed MPs and journalists standing by an entranceon the west side of the building.