Weapons-related call forces lockdown at Garden City Collegiate

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This article was published 07/03/2023 (999 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Confused and concerned parents lined Jefferson Avenue in front of Garden City Collegiate Tuesday afternoon, waiting to pick up their children, who’d been locked down inside for about an hour.

Winnipeg police responded to a weapons-related call at the high school at about 1 p.m.

Officers searched the school and determined there was no credible threat before lifting the lockdown roughly an hour later.

Two people were arrested off school grounds and the investigation is continuing, a Winnipeg Police Service spokesman wrote in an emailed statement.

School officials said nobody was injured during the lockdown.

Parents said they heard about the situation in frightening texts from their children, rather than direct communications from school staff.

“They never contacted me at all,” said Ash Gordon, who was waiting to pick up his daughter from her ninth-grade classroom at about 2:30 p.m.

“I don’t know what happened; my daughter was texting my wife and said there were (police tactical units) at the school.… As soon as I heard this, I came straight from work.”

Other parents indicated they were alerted to the situation by their kids.

Seven Oaks School Division superintendent Brian O’Leary said it is not uncommon for schools to connect with parents after a lockdown, rather than during the incident.

“There are times when kids will text their parents. We’re not giving live updates to parents during the events because we really need to ascertain what’s happening,” he told the Free Press.

“A lot of threats to schools turn out not to be credible, but we still try to act in a way that ensures safety.… Also, we want the staff and school to be focused on the students and safety, rather than answering texts.”

O’Leary said the school will always send a letter to parents as soon as possible once a lockdown ends.

“During the event, it really is a police operation, and they communicate with the public and the media about it,” he said.

Collegiate principal Howard Kowalchuk emailed parents at about 3 p.m. to update them on the afternoon’s events.

“Winnipeg Police determined the information to be unfounded and the lockdown was lifted. We have returned back to classes as normal and will debrief this with students. We understand these occurrences are stressful on our community. We will follow up with any students as needed,” he wrote.

While some students waiting for rides outside the school said they were frightened during the lockdown, others said they weren’t really bothered, and scrolled social media on their phones while they waited for police to finish up.

“I just tried to hide because I was worried,” said one Grade 10 student. “It’s just very scary and not something fun to deal with. I feel like I’m in America.”

tyler.searle@free press.mb.ca