No weapon found
Westisle school locked down for 35 minutes in response to potential threat
Friday’s noontime lockdown of Westisle Composite High School was in response to a report received at the West Prince RCMP detachment that there might be someone at the school with a firearm.
The RCMP’s response was immediate, as the high school is located right beside the detachment office.
“The lockdown was initiated and the subject of the complaint was located,” Cst. Al McGrath, one of the RCMP investigators on the file, reported.
The individual, a student, was taken into custody for questioning but was subsequently released to family members. The officer said he could not discuss whether charges are anticipated.
McGrath didn’t know whether high school administration was aware of the potential threat prior to police arriving at the school. Principal Heidi Morgan was unavailable for an interview.
Locating the person, identified by the individual who had called in the report of a potential firearm, was the primary focus when police arrived at the school, the constable confirmed. McGrath said no firearm was found during a search of the school.
He declined to discuss the nature of the search but confirmed some lockers were checked.
Asked if a firearm was located elsewhere, Cst. McGrath responded, “I can’t release that at this time.”
The lockdown was initiated at 12:15, just as the second lunch break was starting, and was terminated at 12:50 p.m.
A parent who arrived at the high school to pick up his daughter, said he was pleased with the RCMP’s response. “They can respond to it and they did respond to it,” he said. He added that the incident could be a lesson to students: “You bring a weapon to school, they are going to come barging into school with guns.”
“They don’t know the situation; they have to respond,” he said.
The parent said he texted his daughter after learning about the lockdown to see what was going on. She told him students were just leaving their classes to go to lunch when teachers told them to return, that they were in lockdown.
“She said, ‘I thought is was a drill.’”
She later contacted him wanting to be picked up because most students were leaving for the day. Classes did resume after the noon hour but with greatly reduced attendance.
Public Schools Branch director, Parker Grimmer, acknowledged such incidents can be very stressful for students and staff. He said the PSB immediately dispatched student services personnel to the high school, and said they will be back at the school next week to assist as needed.
Grimmer was pleased to pass on RCMP information that the lockdown functioned well, and acknowledged it occurred at a time of day when some students were off-campus for their lunch hour. Just as students would not be permitted to leave their classes during the lockdown, those who were outside would not be permitted back inside. A lockdown, Grimmer said, is a planned and practised procedure that allows law enforcement to enter the building “and do what they need to do.” He said it is initiated for the safety of those in the building.