Thunder Bay Police Service
At approximately 1:15 p.m. on September 27, 2016, the Thunder Bay Police Service received a 911 call form a concerned citizen who observed a post on a social media site of a male with a gun inside a backpack in a classroom at Hammarskjold High School.
Multiple officers were immediately dispatched to the school and arrived within minutes.
The school resource officer in the company of the school administration staff was able to locate the student and take him into custody a few minutes later without incident. A black gun was located when his back pack was searched.
The gun was examined and confirmed to be a toy gun spray-painted to look like a real handgun.
School administration is dealing with this very serious incident.
A phone message was sent out by the Lakehead Public Schools advising parents of the incident and reinforcing the school policy that all weapons, including toy guns, are prohibited items in all schools and appropriate and immediate action will occur if students are in possession of them at school.
No criminal charges were laid after reviewing all of the information.
The Thunder Bay Police Service considers every weapons call regarding a handgun as a legitimate threat and will deal as if the firearm is real until they can determine otherwise.
The safety of the public and the officers is the primary concern in these types of calls.
The public should be aware that anything posted on social media that comes to the attention of the police and is perceived as a potential threat to any person or the community will be acted upon as deemed necessary.
