MONTREAL – Security measures were increased at the Quebec National Assembly Thursday after a man reportedly issued verbal threats outside the building and then drove off, said Pierre Duchaine, the Assembly’s director of security.
Duchaine said his officials received a report about 10:30 a.m. that a man had emerged from a vehicle outside the building, shouted "I’m going to shoot you all" – and then got back into the vehicle and drove off.
A bystander who witnessed the event reported it first to Quebec municipal police, Duchaine said.
Quebec police pegged the time of the incident at about 9:30 a.m., he added.
"We’ve put more people outside" the building, as a precautionary measure, Duchaine responded when asked for details of how security had been tightened.
However, he emphasized, regular visitor tours were not stopped.
Nor was the building evacuated.
Security measures already long in effect at the Assembly include a requirement that all visitors show identification at entry.
All entrances to the building are also guarded.
Duchaine declined to provide any description of the man or the vehicle.
He referred all such questions to the Sûreté du Québec, which he said is conducting an investigation into the incident.
Provincial legislators are not in session. They are scheduled to reconvene Sept. 21.
More details to come.
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