The Saint John campus of New Brunswick Community College (NBCC) says a lockdown alert issued this week was a technical error.
On Tuesday at 10:20 a.m., an alert went out by email, text, automated phone call, social media and the campus public address system.
A tweet from the school said people should stay off-site, but those on campus were advised to “RUN – HIDE – FIGHT” after assessing their situation.
That tweet was later deleted.
One student who spoke to Global News said students in his class shut the blinds, turned off the lights and sat quietly after the alert appeared on their classroom board.
Saint John Police responded to the campus and determined there was no threat to safety. By 11:14 a.m., an all-clear as given.
NBCC says staff have since investigated the cause of the alarm, along with their service contractors.
“We have determined that this incident was a false alarm resulting from a technical error in the public address system. We have concluded that there was no malicious intent,” read a release from Graham Huddleston, the acting director of facilities and ancillary services with NBCC.
The system will be updated to prevent the error from happening again, the release said.
“Safety is our priority. We are grateful for the cooperation of our staff, students, and visitors, as well as the support of Saint John Police, during this incident. We recognize that this was a stressful experience and apologize for this experience,” the statement read.
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