WINCHESTER – The Winchester Public School was placed in lockdown for nearly an hour Wednesday afternoon after an armed robbery nearby.
The school posted on its Facebook page just after 3 p.m. that the elementary school on Louise Street South was “in a lockdown status, due to a community matter.”
The school’s page was assuring parents that all students and staff were safe.
A “lockdown” is a heightened security situation compared to a “hold and secure”.
In a “lockdown”, all interior and exterior doors are locked. In a “hold and secure,” all outside doors to the school are locked and people are not allowed to enter or leave the building. But classrooms are still open where students can move from room to room.
UCDSB Superintendent of Schools, Tim Mills, later clarified that it was, in fact, a “hold and secure” that had happened because there was no threat inside the building.
The “hold and secure” was lifted around 3:39 p.m. and students were dismissed as normal and buses were picking kids up regularly.
Provincial police said a man pulled a weapon on another man in the parking lot of the RBC Royal Bank on Main Street.
The victim was hit before the suspect got away with an undisclosed amount of money that was turned over to him by the victim, the O.P.P. said.
Police have no description of the suspect.