The Regina Police Service (RPS) says a 13-year-old girl has been arrested after a report of a gun sent an east Regina high school into an hours-long lockdown Friday morning.
In an afternoon press conference, RPS Deputy Chief Lorilee Davies told reporters the teenager was arrested at a residence in an undisclosed Regina location away from F.W. Johnson Collegiate, and that an air soft rifle was recovered as well.
Police say the girl allegedly pointed the gun at a teacher before leaving school property, and that charges are coming though they have not yet been announced.
“I can tell you this is a very serious incident,” Davies said at RPS headquarters.
“There will be significant charges with significant consequences.”
Davies did not speculate on a potential motive, where the girl may have acquired the weapon or if she attends the grades nine-to-12 high school.
She detailed, though, how officers were on scene in the school just moments after the call came in from school administration at around 9:15 a.m. Friday.
She said officers quickly determined the suspect had left school property but that the lockdown continued as a precaution as officers efforted to ensure the school was safe and secure.
The arrest was made just before 11:30 a.m. and the lockdown ended shortly after.
F.W. Johnson students recounted the moment they were ushered into their classrooms Friday morning.
“On the intercom they announced we were going into lockdown, and then someone pulled the fire alarm like five or 10 minutes later, and we just sat in the dark for the last three hours,” Andrew Stewart said.
Stewart said teachers in the classroom he was sheltering in barricaded the door with desks and chairs.
Andrey Plasek said there were feelings of fear among the group of students they were sheltering with, but that everyone remained generally calm generally.
He spoke of the relief felt when they finally got the all clear.
“It was nice. The lights turned on and then we were like, ‘Oh, we can stand up now’. We had to sit down the whole time and it was kind of uncomfortable.”
As news of the lockdown spread Friday morning, several parents arrived on scene.
The stepfather of a Grade 9 student told Global News of the relief felt when he learned his loved one was safe.
“It was straight panic. We came down and we were like ‘holy!’ We just wanted to see how everything was going but we didn’t know anything of it,” Kirk Buchanan said.
“Then felt a lot better than what I was going through because you don’t want anyone getting hurt or anything.”
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