West Vancouver police and North Shore Rescue volunteers have successfully found two missing loaded handguns that caused a temporary lockdown at West Bay elementary.
Police responded to the Westmount neighbourhood Wednesday evening after a distraught man began pounding on the door of a home on the 3000-block of Rosebery Avenue and asking the owners to call the police.
After he’d been taken into custody under the Mental Health Act, the man told police he’d discarded two 9-mm pistols, somewhere between his home on Cypress Bowl Road and the area near the school, said Const. Jeff Palmer, West Vancouver police spokesman.
Police contacted the West Vancouver school district, which informed parents as searchers fanned out over the neighbourhood. Classes at West Bay went on as usual Thursday but students were not allowed outside.
Investigators redeployed 25 officers and called in 20 North Shore Rescue volunteers, who jointly found the guns in the backyard of a home not far from where the man was originally apprehended.
“We’ve informed the schools and we believe they’ve gotten back to normal activity. There’s no basis for them to be concerned. We’ve found the weapons that were outstanding and secured them,” Palmer said.
The man is undergoing a mental health assessment and investigators are looking into whether there will be charges under the Firearms Act and if the man’s gun licence will be revoked, Palmer said.
“It’s good news. There was no threat to the school at any time and no threat to any person but obviously it’s a real concern that any kid could inadvertently encounter something that could cause quite great harm.”
In 2013, students near Rockridge secondary in West Vancouver found an antique Webley revolver in a nearby wooded area.
