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UPDATE: Brookswood Secondary lockdown lifted (with video)

Huge police presence outside the school after reports of suspicious male, possibly with a gun
Monique Tamminga
Monique Tamminga
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An armed police officer stands outside Brookswood Secondary School. A lockdown was ordered in response to a report of a suspicious male, possibly armed. Miranda Gathercole Langley Times

A code red lockdown on Brookswood Secondary has now been lifted and Langley RCMP have entered the building to conduct a thorough search, after they received a report at around 2 p.m. of a suspicious male in a field east of the high school, possibly carrying a gun.

“Initial reports were not firsthand, so the school was immediately locked down out of an abundance of caution,” said police.

“At this point in time, there is no evidence to indicate an armed individual entered the school and there have been no reports of injuries or violent acts,” said Langley RCMP Supt. Murray Power.

A lockdown occurs when a perceived threat results in all students and staff being held inside the school and no one is allowed in or out of the building.

Worried parents who came to school to pick up their children gathered outside the school and traffic was backed up 208 Street as far as 40 Avenue as people tried to get into the parking lot, where they encountered a heavy police presence.

Some parents reported that students had remained calm, while police officers surrounded the school, some carrying rifles. Others took to social media, saying several police cars were seen speeding to the area.

At 3:10 p.m. the Langley School District announced the lockdown had been lifted.

Langley RCMP Sgt. Alex Mulvihill told worried parents gathered outside the school that there was no danger to their children and that, following police protocol, students would be released from the school one classroom at at a time as police conducted their search.

One parent told the Times she would only be relieved once she saw her daughter. She said she only learned of the situation, which she described as “very scary,” when she arrived to pick up her daughter from school.

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Langley RCMP Sgt. Alex Mulvihill addressed concerned parents waiting for their children after Brookswood Secondary School was put under lockdown Wednesday afternoon. Troy Landreville Langley Times
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There was a large police presence outside Brookswood Secondary School after the school was put under lockdown Wednesday afternoon. All the students were escorted out of the school safely. Troy Landreville Langley Times
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There was a large police presence outside Brookswood Secondary School after the school was put under lockdown Wednesday afternoon. All the students were escorted out of the school safely. Troy Landreville Langley Times
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An RCMP officer took a police dog into Brookswood Secondary to investigate after the school was put under lockdown. Troy Landreville Langley Times
Monique Tamminga

About the Author: Monique Tamminga

Monique brings 20 years of award-winning journalism experience to the role of editor at the Penticton Western News. Of those years, 17 were spent working as a senior reporter and acting editor with the Langley Advance Times.
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