Vancouver’s Killarney Secondary lockdown lifted, no one hurt

Editor’s note: This article has been updated to correctly attribute quotes to the Vancouver School District, not police as previously reported.

A lockdown at Killarney Secondary School in East Vancouver has been lifted. There were reports of someone carrying an axe at the school.

The school district said the lockdown was placed “out of abundance of caution” and no one was hurt.

On Thursday morning, several police cruisers were parked outside the high school, where about 2,000 students attend classes.

“After approximately two hours, the police completed their investigation and determined there was no imminent threat to the school and the community in the area. No students or staff were harmed as a result of this incident,” the Vancouver School District said in a statement.

Few details were provided, aside from the VPD saying in a series of tweets that officers were “searching the school,” adding they were going “room-by-room.”

At about noon, police shared an update that the search had concluded.

“The lockdown is now over. There are no injuries and no suspect has been located,” the tweet stated.

Police say they are continuing to investigate.

“There’s still a lot of work to do. This is an ongoing investigation and there are a lot of questions that I can’t answer right now,” Sgt. Steve Addison said.

One Grade 11 student recalls it happening during break time, when almost all of the students were in the hallway.

“Me and my friends who were walking down the stairs by the caf, we saw a bunch of kids running and screaming. So we just booked it. We ran outside,” Even said.

Mark remembers hearing the principal shout that the school was on lockdown.

“I looked down and just sprinted into a classroom. The teacher started telling kids to enter. He closed the door, turned off all the lights, and then we all kind of sat down and waited.”

Mark sent texts to his family with updates on the situation. He described it as scary situation that he had never experienced before.

“You see this stuff happen in the States but you never really think it’s gonna happen.”

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On Wednesday, the East Vancouver secondary school was evacuated after a bear spray attack inside. At the time, police said they believed teens from another school were responsible.

Some students were taken to the hospital as a precaution.

Read more: Bear spray attack leads to Vancouver high school evacuation

There’s no word on any arrests in that attack, but police have identified suspects.

With files from Tarnjit Parmar