Police in Delta, B.C. say they've taken a student into custody after they allegedly brought an airsoft pistol into a local high school.
Staff at Sands Secondary School, located in the area of 108 Street and 82 Avenue, contacted police at 10:07 a.m. on Thursday.
According to a police statement, officers arrived at the school a minute later and quickly located the student.
“The situation involved a dispute between students. The student in question apparently felt threatened and decided to carry the starter pistol as a deterrent,” Cris Leykauf, public affairs co-ordinator for Delta police said in a statement.
“Though this was an unfortunate decision, our officers were pleased the incident was resolved quickly and safely.”
Sands Secondary was placed into a code yellow lockdown while police investigated. The procedure ended at 10:45 a.m.
No one was injured, but students said they were confused about what was going on.
“We didn’t really see much. We were just kind of locked in our classes,” said a 16-year-old student named Daniel. “At first we thought it was a drill, but after that we found out it wasn’t a drill and it was kind of scary…These things are pretty serious after all.”
“People were texting me a lot and saying ‘What’s happening?’” said Malcolm, another student. “I think they should talk about it more. What is something does happen, like a code red next time?”
Authorities originally said the student was carrying a starter pistol like the ones used to signal the beginning of various kinds of races. But police later said it was actually an airsoft gun. These use forced air or compressed gas to fire non-metallic projectiles at speeds between 30 and 200 metres per second. Higher-velocity airsoft ammunition can cause serious injuries, especially to the eyes and face.
The Delta police's School Liaison Officer is still investigating the incident with the help of school administrators.
The incident comes just a day after a gunman used an AR-15 assault rifle to kill 17 people at a school in Parkland, Fla. Nikolas Cruz, a 19-year-old orphan, was charged with murder Thursday in the attack at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
