The discovery of a shotgun at Nouvelle-Alliance high school on Monday was an eye-opener for school board officials as well as city police.
After the firearm was found inside a musical instrument case at the Anne Street school yesterday morning, a hold-and-secure was put into effect and there was a heavy police presence while officers searched the area for the suspect, who's a student at the school.
A 13-year-old boy was arrested and charged with careless use of a firearm, unauthorized possession of a firearm, and knowledge of unauthorized possession of a firearm. He was released from custody Monday evening and is scheduled to appear in court in late-February.
Barrie police communications co-ordinator Peter Leon said Monday's incident marks a first for the police department, which "is a concern."
"We have dealt with weapons in schools before (and) we’ve dealt with threats before, but this is the very first time we have had a real firearm brought to one of our schools," Leon told BarrieToday.
"We should always remain aware of our surroundings, but not afraid," he added.
Leon says he understands the community will worry when incidents like this happen, but he added officers are ready for such scenarios.
“It is very concerning to the Barrie police, but the public needs to understand and parents need to understand that we train for situations like this on a regular basis,” he said. “Yesterday was very much real life and we responded accordingly with a full police response.”Barrie police had uniformed officers, school resource officers, tactical and canine units involved in Monday's gun call.
Leon said the first step upon arrival to the school was to co-ordinate with Nouvelle-Alliance staff and ensure the safety of the students inside the building.
“We worked very closely with the school when our officers got there to make a determination, first and foremost, on the safety of the students. That is our No. 1 prioroty,” he said.
MonAvenir director of education Andre Blais told BarrieToday he was pleased with how staff both at the school and the city police handled the incident. Blais added he was also satisfied that the hold-and-secure was properly implemented, but also says there can be ways to improve.
“After an incident like that, there is always room for reflection,” he said. “When the dust has settled, we’ll go back to the school with our safe-schools team and see if anything could have been done better.
"Things did seem to go smoothly and there was a great collaboration between the school and the police, but there is always room to learn and grow," Blais said.
There was a superintendent and social workers at Nouvelle-Alliance yesterday to support students and staff who needed it, said Blais. There's also a crisis team at the school today for any students who feel the need to talk about what happened or have concerns.
“We also brought in an expert to deal with staff who may have concerns, short-term or long-term,” he said. “We hope all the needed supports are in place and they will be there as long as the community needs them.”
