Police confirm toy gun caused lockdown at Collège Lionel-Groulx in Sainte-Thérèse
Posted November 18, 2022 3:44 pm.
Last Updated November 21, 2022 11:45 am.
Police have identified and met with the suspect involved in the four-hour long lockdown at Collège Lionel-Groulx in Sainte-Thérèse, north of Laval, last Friday.
Thérèse-De Blainville police (RIPTB) say no firearm was involved and the person is cooperating with police. They say he is a minor from Sainte-Thérèse and had a toy gun on him. Adding he never entered the school.
Bystanders saw the person wandering the streets near the college with a toy weapon, which looked real, and called 911 which launched the investigation and lockdown.
The police force wants to remind the public that buying, transporting and handling toy weapons must be done safely in public.
Just after 1:30 p.m., Friday Nov. 18, RIPTB officers were dispatched for a “potential active shooter,” but by 5:45 p.m. authorities confirmed that the lockdown had been lifted and that “no criminal act” had been committed.
No one was injured.
During the operation, police explained they were working on thoroughly searching the premises, but that nothing led them to believe that the individual went into the school – and at the time, they could not confirm if that person was armed.
The Chief Investigator added that Collège Lionel-Groulx is a complex and large building – and it would take time before they could lift the lockdown – and evacuate about 100 students and staff inside.
Officers from neighbouring municipalities also came to assist in securing the area and making sure that there was no threat. Ambulances were also dispatched to the scene.
Psychosocial support services were available at the Centre culturel et communautaire Thérèse-De Blainville.
This was the third time in a week that colleges in Quebec have had to confine their students.
On Nov. 11, in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu – a suspect was arrested and charged with making threats– and that same night in Laval there was a lockdown at the Collège Montmorency CEGEP after a shooting in a nearby park. No arrests have been made in that event.
