Burnham-On-Sea’s MP was among those caught up in a terrorism attack which saw a police officer stabbed to death and three others killed in Westminster on Wednesday (March 22nd).
The Palace of Westminster was placed under a state of lockdown following the incident in which gunshots were heard outside and a vehicle struck several people on Westminster Bridge.
Burnham-On-Sea’s MP James Heappey was in the House of Commons at the time and his staff also saw the aftermath of the incident from his Westminster office.
James said: “I was already in the Palace of Westminster when the division bell rang – it all happened as there was a vote in the House of Commons.”
“I was in the voting chamber, voting just behind the Prime Minister. I saw a couple of people whisper in her ear and take her away and I now understand she was being evacuated from the parliamentary estate.”
“The first I really knew about it was when several colleagues came across from the offices on the other side of the parliamentary estate. They had been on their way past Parliament Square when the shooting happened.”
“I understand that several were told to get on the floor and crawl for cover, which sounds very dramatic indeed but we were locked down in the House of Commons and found out updates from social media.”
He added: “My office looks out over Parliament Square and unfortunately my staff saw it all unfold and they didn’t know whether anyone was dead but they saw somebody being shot and they saw the attempts by paramedics thereafter to save a life.”
He praised the Police “for doing their job very effectively.”
