Police questioning three young men after possible gun sighting near Montreal high school
Students at a high school in Montreal North were forced into a lockdown after a caller reported a gunman nearby on Tuesday afternoon.
Three young men fitting the caller's description were located and apprehended by police officers in the area, Montreal police (SPVM) later said.
SPVM spokesperson Raphael Bergeron said the young men were searched, but no firearms were found.
Investigators are speaking with the young men, but Bergeron said the school was not targeted, but rather a conflict erupted between two individuals.
The caller who reported the sighting said the person with a gun was outdoors, a few blocks from Ecole Secondaire Henri-Bourassa.
A witness, Derek Rombeiro, said he saw a park adjacent to the school "filled with police officers, going after three suspects."
The three young men, who Rombeiro said looked like teenagers, lay on the ground while police patted them down, then were taken away in a police van.
Pointe-de-l'Ile Service Centre Director Valerie Biron confirmed that a concerning call came in this afternoon to the school.
"A team was quickly dispatched and the end of classes was delayed to allow police to verify the seriousness of the call," she said.
"The students remained in the safety of their classrooms throughout the intervention, along with their teachers."
Biron said officers searched the school and confirmed that it was secured and students and staff were allowed to leave around 3:45 p.m.
"Parents were informed of the situation by email and were invited to debrief their children," said Biron.
Psychologists will be available to any students or staff who need assistance over the next few days.
Last year, several Montreal schools were briefly closed as a precaution after a series of hoaxes.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.