UPDATE: YOUTH, 14, CHARGED TODAY AFTER GHS BRIEFLY IN LOCKDOWN FOLLOWING ‘TIP ABOUT POSSIBLE THREAT’ INVOLVING TWO STUDENTS

Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com

GRAVENHURST — Students and staff at GHS were placed in a lockdown “for a few minutes today,” said the Trillium Lakelands District School board just after noon Tuesday.

The public school board says it was quickly lifted by the police.

Carolynne Bull, communications manager for TLDSB, told MuskokaTODAY.com “the whole school was in a lockdown around noon today for a short period of time after the school received a tip about a possible threat.”

Later this afternoon, a police release added the OPP have charged one youth in relation to the incident.

They say that on Tuesday, April 21, at 11:50 a.m., officers responded to a concern from the high school that had escalated near the school involving two students.

Out of an abundance of caution, the school was placed into a lockdown, which was lifted a short time later.

There were no injuries and the incident did not unfold on school property.

Police have arrested and charged a 14-year-old Gravenhurst youth, whose identity is protected under provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

Bull said a lockdown is a safety measure initiated when there is a threatening incident or threat of school violence in relation to the school. During a lockdown, all classrooms will be locked so that staff and students are safe in their location, and no one is allowed to enter or leave the school.

Students and staff are trained for lockdowns. Much the same way that schools practice fire drills, lockdown drills are also practiced in an age appropriate manner.

She said the local police responded quickly to the school, deemed it safe, and lifted the lockdown, allowing the regular day to resume.