Two people have been arrested after an alarming incident that forced a Surrey high school into a hold-and-secure protocol Thursday afternoon.
Police said they were called to a home across the street from Lord Tweedsmuir Secondary after someone saw a possible firearm at the property, but that it turned out to be a relatively harmless airsoft gun.
"Many pellet guns and airsoft pistols are meant to closely resemble actual firearms," Cpl. Elenore Sturko said in a news release. "Our officers respond to all firearms calls as if the firearm is real, and treat the potential threat as such until proven otherwise. We strongly caution members of the public against carrying or handling these types of weapons in public."
Two people were arrested at the scene. Authorities said they don't have any apparent gang connections, and it's unclear whether either of them will face charges.
The police incident forced officials to put Lord Tweedsmuir into a hold-and-secure for about an hour, but Surrey Schools spokesperson Doug Strachan said it was only done as a precaution.
"There's no direct threat to the school," Strachan told CTV News. "The hold-and-secure was lifted after a little more than an hour."
Grade 12 student Hayley McKague said many of her classmates were confused as to what was happening.
“We were in class and then we got a lockout. It wasn’t a drill—that’s what the teacher said—so she shut all the doors and windows. I had no clue what was going on,” she said.
“People were kind of confused at first. People were asking if it was a drill or not. The teachers didn’t know either so we kind of assumed it was real," said Grade 12 student Fraser Everts.
Under hold-and-secure protocols, students can still move around the school freely and classes continue as normal. Lockdowns are more serious, and involve locking all interior doors and closing window blinds.
