Politicians from British Columbia are recovering from a close call in the nation’s capital after an attack that left a gunman and a soldier dead and put Parliament Hill on lockdown.

Peter Julian, the New Democrat MP for Burnaby-New Westminster, told CTV Vancouver from a secure area his party was holding their regular Wednesday morning caucus meeting when shots were fired.

“The shooter was obviously 20 feet away, and a security guard came in and helped us secure the doors and basically told us to take cover,” he said. “We spent some anxious moments because the shooting was still going on outside the caucus room.”

Security guards then led Julian and others to a lockdown room in Parliament Hill, which is where he spoke to CTV. He described the police response to the shooting as extremely courageous.

“The guards and the police officers have shown immense courage, they’ve been very disciplined, very calm, and obviously they’ve been following through on the protocols very appropriately,” he said. “I think we’re all happy to be alive.”

Conservative MP Russ Hiebert, from South Surrey, tweeted photos of police on the streets of the nation’s capital as he was on his way in to his office.

“It was an urban war zone. I don’t know how else to describe it,” he said. “I was making my way across the lawn and saw the Prime Minister’s car depart the precinct in a great rush.”

Hiebert said he was told by security officers to leave, and eventually found himself inside a building on Spark Street. He said it wasn’t his plan to be at the entrance the gunman apparently stormed, but it was close.

“Had I been there a few minutes earlier, what if?” he asked.

Liberal MP Joyce Murray, from Vancouver-Quadra, told CTV News that the first she heard of a problem was disorder in the hallways.

“There was someone racing up the stairs and screaming,” she said. “That’s the first we knew of any activity.”

She and two other MPs locked themselves in an office before they were moved to a secure location, she said.

Vancouver MP Hedy Fry said she thought the commotion was due to construction – until she heard the sound of gunfire.

“We were then immediately told by security, get into the room and lock the door,” Fry said.

Green Party leader Elizabeth May, from Saanich-Gulf Islands, said she was in her office – and had no choice but to stay there, she said.

“We’re in a lockdown situation. It’s absolutely surrealistic,” she said.

May said there will be many questions about parliamentary security after the day is over.

“If you’d told me yesterday that such a thing was possible I’d have told you you were wrong,” she said.

Hiebert urged caution before a parliamentary lockdown.

“It’s a tough balance that we have as a country to make the house of the people a place for the public, accessible, and safe at the same time,” he said.