A west-end Ottawa school has resumed normal activities after a brief concern over reports an individual possibly armed with a gun was in the area.
Ottawa police tweeted shortly after 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday that they received reports of a possible armed individual in the 5300 block of Abbott Street East.
The Paul Desmarais French Catholic high school went into “safe mode” during the incident.
Police said in an update roughly 10 minutes later that officers on scene had spoken with a witness and did not locate any suspicious individuals in the area.
“No threat” was found, an OPS spokesperson confirmed.
The incident was declared over at 12:45 p.m. but police said they were still investigating.
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The Conseil des écoles catholiques du Centre-Est sent a letter to parents in French informing them that “safe mode” had been lifted.
“Fortunately, everything is under control and school activities have resumed,” the letter read.
Nearby Sacred Heart High School also nearly went into lockdown on Thursday, according to a note sent from principal Brent Hopkins to parents.
Police alerted Sacred Heart about the situation but informed the school the threat was not in its direct vicinity. Hopkins said the call was made to activate precautionary safety measures anyways, but the lockdown was averted in an update from police.
“Just as a PA announcement was to be made to advise the school community, we received notice from Ottawa Police that the issue had been resolved by the school and members of the Ottawa Police who responded to the incident. As a result, our emergency measures were not implemented,” Hopkins wrote.
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