At approximately 10 a.m., officers from the Sûreté du Québec’s Haut-Saint-Laurent station initiated a lockdown at Heritage Elementary school in Huntingdon following reports of a potential threat nearby. Students, who were on the playground at the time, were immediately brought inside by school staff and lockdown procedures were put in place while officers investigated the threat.
“There was no incident in the end,” says Sûreté du Québec spokesperson Audrey-Anne Bilodeau, who confirms officers received a call from a potential witness reporting a possible threat on Prince Street near the school. “We could not take any chances,” says Bilodeau, of the decision to lockdown the school. Police also quickly blocked off Dalhousie Street near the school as well as a section of Prince Street.
Bilodeau reports that within 30 minutes, officers had located the individual and determined there was no threat to the school or to the public in general. The lockdown was lifted at the school and students were back out on the playground during lunch hour.
In a message sent to parents early in the afternoon, Heritage principal Collin Thomas wrote that “the police arrived within minutes to support us and investigate.” He commended the students for handling the situation very well, while highlighting the quick and professional reaction of staff in the face of this potential emergency.
