Regina-Qu’Appelle MP and House of Commons Speaker Andrew Scheer was among those under lockdown after Wednesday’s shootings on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.

Scheer described the situation as “tense” after a soldier was fatally shot at the National War Memorial and gunfire rang out in the halls of the Centre Block.

“My first thoughts and prayers are with the soldier who was attacked,” Scheer told CTV News in a phone interview.

Scheer said he and others were safe in the Justice Building a few hundred metres away from the Centre Block.

“My main office is in Centre Block, so my staff and, of course, all my colleagues are still up there, so I’m very concerned for them,” Scheer said. “But, so far, everyone seems to be safe.”

Scheer said he had spoken on the phone with his wife Jill to let her know he’s safe.

“She hadn’t even heard what was going on,” Scheer said. “But I just wanted to get ahold of her right away because I knew that she’d be concerned.”

Scheer said there will likely be a review of security on Parliament Hill in the wake of the “very tragic” incident.

“First and foremost, we’re going to looking at what happened – how is it able to happen? What could have been done to prevent this or what steps will need to be taken to prevent this from happening in the future?” he said.

“We have to keep this building safe…Also, we have to balance the idea that members of the public want to be able to access the Parliament buildings…So, it’s a difficult balance to achieve, but it’s very important work that will have to be undertaken in the next few days.”