‘Hold and secure’ protocol was implemented at Georges P. Vanier Secondary School in Courtenay, Friday afternoon, after reports of an incident on school grounds.
“RCMP were notified of a possible weapons-related incident involving a male outside G.P. Vanier Secondary School on Headquarters Road,” said School District 71 manager of communications, Mary Lee, in a statement sent to the Comox Valley Record. “As a result, the school district implemented its Hold and Secure protocol as a precautionary measure.”
According to the SD 71 website, hold and secure is implemented “in response to security threats or criminal activity outside the school. During a Hold and Secure, all entrance doors to the school are locked, with no one permitted in or out of the building. No one, other than law enforcement, is permitted access to the building until the Hold and Secure has been cleared.”
“Frontline officers [were] in the area investigating a report of a male with a weapon; using an abundance of caution, the decision was made to place the school in a hold and secure while the investigation [continued],” said Cst. Monika Terragni, RCMP media relations, adding that the incident was “not random in nature.”
The ‘hold and secure’ was lifted at 2:15 p.m. with no arrests made.
“We are still actively investigating; however, I can tell you that we’ve identified all the parties involved and located them all,” said Terragni, in an email response issued approximately one hour after the protocol was lifted.
terry.farrell@blackpress.ca
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter
