Send this page to someone via email Orillia OPP have completed their investigation following a lockdown and two police-initiated hold and secures that were placed on three Orillia schools Tuesday morning. Twin Lakes Secondary School was under lockdown on Tuesday, police say, and officers were called to the scene to assist with a reported threat to the school. According to police, a student reported seeing two male adults inside the school, one of whom had a firearm. Update on lockdown @TwinLakes_SS. After the investigation police have determined there was never a threat to public safety. With the information at the time police needed to ensure the safety of the students and staff. #OrilliaOPP #SafeSchools @SCDSB_Schools ^mh pic.twitter.com/i24JBHHeNd — OPP Central (@OPP_CR) May 8, 2019 Orchard Park Public School and Harriett Todd Public School were also placed under a police-initiated hold and secure, which was lifted Tuesday afternoon. “At our two elementary schools, police initiated [a] hold and secure just as a precautionary measure while police were investigating the situation at Twin Lakes,” Sarah Kekewich, communications manager at the Simcoe County District School Board, said. Story continues below advertisement READ MORE: Some areas in Muskoka beginning recovery from floods The lockdown was lifted at Twin Lakes at 1:55 p.m. Tuesday, and students were sent home. All students and staff were reported safe, Kekewich said. Police conducted a thorough investigation and determined that there was never a threat to public safety. WATCH: Fire tears through west-end Toronto high school 2:34 Fire tears through west-end Toronto high school Fire tears through west-end Toronto high school – May 7, 2019<doc-sep>The OPP has concluded its investigation into an alleged threat against Twin Lakes Secondary School in Orillia. The school was placed in a police-initiated lockdown on Tuesday after reports that students saw two men inside the school, one reportedly with a firearm. The lockdown remained in effect most of the school day with all 500 students and staff evacuated to a nearby public school. Investigators say there was never any threat to public safety.<doc-sep>Students said they were told there was someone in school with a gun; It's 'scary to see in Orillia' An OPP officer stands guard at Twin Lakes while a female student makes her way, with police, out of the school. Dave Dawson/OrilliaMatters 1 / 1 An OPP officer stands guard at Twin Lakes while a female student makes her way, with police, out of the school. Dave Dawson/OrilliaMatters Twin Lakes Secondary School is in lockdown this morning and the west-end school is swaming with police officers. While no details are being released, an OPP officer is standing at the school's driveway entrance with a shotgun. Dozens of police vehicles, what appears to be members of the tactical unit, a canine unit and dozens of other officers are at the site. Grade 12 student Riley Chapman was among a small group of students congregating outside the school as the scene unfolded. He said he and Brianna Robertson were pulling into the school for their 9:30 a.m. class when a normal day turned into chaos. "About eight cop cars pulled in the wrong way and came flying into the school," said Chapman. "They all popped their trunks, grabbed guns and ran into the school. We tried to get out of our car and they told us to get back in." About 10 minutes later, they were told "to move as far away from the school as we can." Not long after, they were asked if they had guns, were frisked and told to leave the school. The students said they had heard there was someone with a gun in the school. At about 10 a.m., a female student was escorted out of the school by officers in fatigues. She was crying and trying to provide descriptions of two males to police officers. "This is so scary to see in Orillia," said Robertson. When a school is in lockdown, students are kept in their classes, against the walls behind locked doors. Neither the school board or the OPP have released any details yet.<doc-sep>School was locked down for most of the day Tuesday; 'We have detectives still investigating,' say police, noting no weapons were found at the school Yesterday morning, students at Twin Lakes Secondary School in Orillia were scrambling for cover behind locked doors as the school went into lockdown amid unconfirmed reports of someone with a gun in the school. “The original threat came in at about 9:15 a.m. (Tuesday),” said Sgt. Jason Folz, the media relations coordinator for the OPP’s Central Region. Folz said there was “a threat to the students in the school.” He could not provide any further details about the nature of the complaint this morning. The first wave of response came from the Orillia OPP detachment. “They came to the school, which was already on lockdown, and they would have done an initial kind of clear to make sure nobody was in there that may have caused the threat, on the surface," Folz said. Meanwhile, several special units headquartered in Orillia, were also activated. Within 15 minutes, officers from the Tactics and Response Unit (TRU), the Emergency Response Team (ERT), canine unit and others were flooding into the Birch Street area around the west-end school. “A perimeter was established outside and the TRU members replaced the uniformed (Orillia) members inside the school,” explained Folz. After a cursory search, they developed a plan to move the students to Harriett Todd school using City of Orillia transit buses. “We wanted to get a head count … so, class by class, they were moved by city bus to Harriett Todd,” said Folz. Once the school was evacuated, it was searched thoroughly. “Guys from TRU went class to class, floor by floor, closet by closet; it was that extensive of a search to make sure it was safe,” said Folz. The school was deemed safe at about 2 p.m. At that point, the lockdown was lifted. And while Folz said the operation went well, he was unable to provide much clarity as to what provoked the incident. “To be honest, we have detectives still investigating this ... people are looking into it,” said Folz. “We don’t have that conclusion piece just yet … but we’re hoping to have that later today.” He stressed any time a threat is perceived, it has to be dealt with. “As a result, you get what unfolded,” said Folz. He called Tuesday’s operation “a scaled response. It’s just how we have to do business now in terms of school violence. You have to have that kind of response. It’s a sad state of affairs.” But it’s also necessary, he said, referencing the school shooting yesterday in Colorado. “Can it happen in small-town Ontario? Absolutely.” There were no injuries at Twin Lakes. Folz also confirmed no weapons "or anything insidious" were found inside the school. He also confirmed that there was no one inside the school that should not have been inside the school. However, a non-student was arrested near Harriett Todd Public School. A video that has been making its rounds on social media shows a police officer trying to arrest a young man. The 24-second clip shows the officer punching the young man and then shows other officers helping to put him in handcuffs after he had been knocked to the ground. “It’s not pretty,” Folz said of the video, while stressing the clip is just a small snapshot of the interaction with the man. “I can’t further comment on it (because) we’re investigating that as a separate incident,” said Folz. “That fellow was a non-student mixed among students over at Harriett Todd and finds himself arrested for an unrelated reason,” said Folz. “Can we discount him? The answer is no. He was asked to leave a number of times, chose not to and, ultimately, was arrested … I don’t know why he was there. “Do I really believe he is what we were looking for at the school? No. But, I can’t discount it completely.” Folz said police hope to issue a media release later in the day about the incident.<doc-sep>
Twin Lakes Secondary School was placed in a police-initiated lockdown on Tuesday morning after an alleged threat was made against the Orillia school. The lockdown remained in effect most of the school day causing stress and concern among students and parents like Scott Smith. “(I am) worried for her. I just want to see that she’s okay. I know she is, but you got to see her, you know?” Police stood with rifles cordoning off several area streets and conducting a thorough inspection of the building. “We’re doing an extensive floor by floor search for anything out of the ordinary or suspects,” said Sgt. Jason Folz this afternoon. “It’s unclear at this time whether there were weapons involved in this particular case.” About 500 students and staff were evacuated to a nearby public school a little over an hour after the lockdown started. Harriett Todd and Orchard Park public schools were placed in a hold and secure, meaning no one could enter or exit. At two o’clock it all came to an end with an announcement the lockdown was cancelled. “We’re very thankful that this particular situation turned out with no injuries at all,” said Sgt. Folz. It was also a relief for parents who held their children a little tighter this afternoon. “Very emotional, I’ll be happy to take her home,” said one parent. Tactical officers have deemed the high school on Birch Street safe, and students were able to recover their belongings. No arrests were made in connection to the alleged threat. Police are continuing to investigate.