Lockdown at MSVU lifted after police investigate weapons complaint

A lockdown at Mount Saint Vincent University has been lifted after police investigated a weapons complaint at the Halifax school on Thursday afternoon.

Halifax Regional Police (HRP) had earlier asked the public to avoid the area, as more than a dozen police vehicles from HRP and RCMP descended on campus.

Police said they received reports at 1 p.m. AT that an armed robbery may have taken place at a café at the university. There were no reports of gunshots or injuries.

Student Kassi Brightman said she was studying in the Margaret Norrie McCain Centre when police arrived around 1:30 p.m., and escorted her and others to stand at the edge of campus by the Bedford Highway.

“Everything blanked in my mind,” Brightman told reporters. “They told us ‘just leave everything behind, get to safety.’ I was really just thinking, ‘I hope everyone else is safe,’ because I had a clear exit, but I wasn’t sure about my friends and faculty.”

The school said shortly before 2 p.m. that everyone on campus should remain where they were and lock doors and windows, if possible.

Ambulances and paramedic teams were also at the scene, alongside at least one police dog team and the RCMP’s armoured vehicle.

An update from MSVU at 3:10 p.m. said no threat was found after police searched the school and it was safe for people to leave buildings and campus.

Brightman said police didn’t tell her any specifics, but she feels like the right approach was taken.

“Better safe than sorry. I mean, it could take one incident just for someone to lose a life or get injured. So I think it was a good response,” Brightman said.

Campus closed for the day

David Dahms works at the MSVU Art Gallery and said some of his colleagues were “very shaken” by the event.

He said police officers carrying guns came into the gallery and at first wanted them to barricade themselves inside the space, but then escorted them outside.

Some students and faculty, who did not want to share their names, told CBC they had been hiding under their desks for more than an hour during the hold and secure. 

“It was very freaky,” Dahms said. “I know there’s a lot of trauma on this campus after what’s happened this afternoon.”

Dahms said police didn’t share any details about the event — which he understands — but the “lack of information left a lot of people to conjecture like the worst is going on.”

The MSVU campus was closed for the rest of the day. All classes, exams and programs will be rescheduled, and personal items left behind can be picked up Friday.

A release from MSVU said support is available for any student or faculty who would like to talk with someone. The school’s Incident Response Team will be reviewing the incident.