Larson Elementary was put on lockdown earlier today, after a witness report of a male with a rifle on his back walking near the school.
“It was about a block away from Larson anyways, so we had no real idea of what his intentions were, if it even was true, so the school was locked down for a period of time,” said North Vancouver RCMP spokesman Cpl. Richard De Jong.
The report came in to police at 2:50 p.m., just as students were leaving school for the day.
“Some had left school already and some were held back,” said De Jong of the brief lockdown at Larson.
During the lockdown procedure – led by school administrators – “they refrain from anyone coming or leaving the school and advise the kids not to tweet out or communicate with parents or anything,” explained De Jong, adding that can create hysteria.
An extensive search of the Upper Lonsdale area by Air One police helicopter, as well as numerous ground patrols by uniformed RCMP officers turned up nothing.
“No news is good news at this point,” said De Jong.
Officers will continue to follow up with any witnesses who may have seen anything suspicious in the area.
