Students were in lockdown yesterday after what sounded like gunshots were heard outside Innisfail Jr/Sr high school close to 3:00 p.m.
A staff member at the high school contacted the RCMP after hearing what sounded suspiciously like a shotgun, explained Sandy Bexon, communications officer for Chinook’s Edge School Division.
Students and staff inside the high school as well as École John Wilson Elementary and École Innisfail Middle School, both located on the same property as the highschool, were kept inside as police arrived to investigate. Students remained in their classrooms but no one was allowed to enter the school and no one was allowed to leave during the lockdown.
Chinook’s Edge School board notified École St. Marguerite Bourgeoys School. Bexon said students at the Catholic school were already dismissed, and the few students and staff that remained stayed in lockdown as well. “We attended the area and talked to a lot of people in the area and at the end of it all we couldn’t determine what was the cause of the noise,” said Staff Sgt. Lyle Marianchuk.
“…The people in the area I spoke to have heard the noise before. So we don’t know what it is, whether it’s a firecracker, whether it’s some sort of construction. We just don’t know. Some said it sounded like a gunshot others said it sounded like a clanging. We can’t determine what the origin of the noise is and we’re not going to confirm that it was a gunshot.”
He said the lockdown was lifted from the school shortly thereafter.
Students were in lockdown between 12 and 15 minutes, explained Bexon. She said the RCMP lifted the lockdown after confirming the situation was not a threat. She said that because the lockdown was lifted around school dismissal time, the buses were barely delayed. Parents should expect a letter coming home with students this afternoon explaining the situation in more detail.
