Police say a 19-year-old man is facing charges after he was arrested Friday wearing a bulletproof vest at a junior college south of Montreal.
The CEGEP de Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu quickly went into lockdown after police received a 911 call for a man behaving in a "suspicious" way around 9 a.m., sending some students into a panic and heavily armed officers securing a perimeter around the facility.
The Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu police said the man was held in custody Friday night and is expected to appear in court Saturday on charges of uttering threats. Officers arrested the man about an hour after the 911 call "based on information obtained from various sources," the police said in a news release early Friday evening.
There were no injuries reported.
A female under the age of 18 was also arrested, initially as a suspect, but police said Friday evening she was later considered to be a witness "and has no involvement in this event."
Students and staff were safely escorted out of the building by police once the lockdown was lifted early Friday afternoon, according to St-Jean-sur-Richelieu police spokesperson Sgt. Jérémie Lévesque. One pregnant woman was sent to hospital as a precautionary measure, he said. Classes were cancelled for the rest of the day.
The lockdown was kept in place for about three hours since police were investigating whether or not there was another suspect. A third person was intercepted by police, but has since been let go after officers determined he or she did not have a link to the incident.
Students at Saint-Jean-Sur-Richelieu college (CEGEP) are on lockdown on Nov. 11 2022. (Marie-Pier Boucher/Noovo Info)
Police have not confirmed whether or not the man who was arrested has any connection to the college.
A video of the arrests shows the man dressed in a white long-sleeved shirt, dark cargo pants and what police have confirmed as a bulletproof vest. He is seen kneeling in front of police with his hands behind his head.
'I TOLD MY MOM THAT I LOVED HER'
The school sent a notice to students and staff Friday morning to stay inside their classrooms and to barricade themselves, causing panic for some students who were left in the dark about what was going on.
One student told CTV News she was barricaded in her classroom of about 30 students for more than three hours and while she was in lockdown she exchanged text messages — some of them emotional ones — with her mother.
"I really thought I could die, honestly," said Marie-Pier Pelletier, after being let out of the school.
"I told my mom that I loved her because I didn't know what was going to happen."
"She told me to calm down, and to breathe and that everything was going to be okay. I know that she's stressed also. But she tried to comfort me and it worked."
After she was allowed to leave the school she said she was planning to go home and give her mother a hug.
Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu police set up a security perimeter around the college and told the public is asked to stay away from the site, including students and parents.
Students barricaded themselves inside CEGEP Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu (Source: Laurence Bilodeau, Cégep de Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu student / Noovo Info)
STUDENTS BARRICADED THEIR CLASSROOMS
Annie Metivier, an interior design technician at the college, said that she and four others -- a colleague and three students -- barricaded themselves in their classroom.
"I'm still barricaded, and we don't know anything … We're following the information on social media and from our friends outside," said Metivier in an exchange through Facebook Messenger with The Canadian Press.
"We are five in my office at the moment, and we turned off the lights because that was what we were instructed to do."
Police spokeswoman Const. Barbara-Ann Dion said officers were searching the campus room by room.
Metivier said she wanted the police operation to be over.
"We're fine yes … stressed but it's fine. We just can't wait for all of this to end," she said. "I saw the police with their guns next to my office because I had to go back and lock a door that a teacher had unlocked adjacent to my office. They told me to 'hurry, hurry up and lock yourself in' … seeing the police with their weapons ready to shoot … it increases the stress."
Vanessa Nadeau, 17, was en route to the school for a 10 a.m. class when the lockdown occurred. Speaking to CTV News on college grounds, she said she's been texting with her friends stuck inside to make sure they're okay.
"We want to wait [here] because we want to make sure they're fine," she said.
Officers were still on scene as the investigation continued Friday afternoon.
With files from CTV Montreal's Kelly Greig and The Canadian Press
