B.C. elementary school goes into lockdown after unknown man walks into a classroom

Staff and students at a Vancouver elementary school are safe after an unknown man walked into a classroom Tuesday morning and refused to leave.

The principal of McBride Elementary School called 911 around 10 a.m. after the man walked into a classroom with students and a teacher inside, police said.

The teacher was able to safely evacuate the classroom and get the students to safety before the school went into lockdown, police added. The man was found in the classroom and was arrested without incident.

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“Coincidentally, when this call came in, the VPD’s school liaison officers were running lockdown training and drills at nearby Killarney Secondary School,” Const. Tania Visintin with the VPD said in a release. “As such, they arrived on scene within minutes.”

The 32-year-old man has been taken to hospital for a psychiatric assessment under the Mental Health Act, police confirmed.

“As stressful and frightening as this was, school staff and administration did a great job of following the procedures and keeping the students safe,” Visintin added.