UPDATE 5:45 p.m. Tuesday: Suspect still at large after gun report paralyzes Cornwall’s downtown
CORNWALL – City police are telling people in a large area of Cornwall to stay indoors as they search for a suspect, possibly carrying a rifle.
CCPS tweeted that people from Second to Ninth Streets and from Nick Kaneb Drive to Cumberland Street should stay inside.
There have been no reports of anyone shot or any injuries.
Cornwall Collegiate and Vocational School (CCVS) was on lockdown after reports of a suspicious person in the area of Amelia Street and Seventh Street this morning (Tuesday).
As well, other schools are in a “hold and secure” as a precautionary measure, Cornwall police said. Around 11:15 a.m., CCVS then moved to “hold and secure,” like the other schools.
A lockdown has students in their classrooms with the doors locked, in addition to the exterior doors, while a “hold and secure” is just the outside doors of the school locked.
At Central Public School on Amelia Street, two police officers were inside the front doors while several parents and caregivers pulled up to the front doors to collect their children around noon.
At the Cornwall Community Hospital, a sign on the ER door reads: “The Cornwall Hospital is on temporary lockdown. We do not know when we will reopen. If you are experiencing chest pain, symptoms of stroke or shortness of breath, please enter and speak with a nurse.” A security guard was at the sliding doors, which were being opened and closed by hand.
Officers are searching for a suspicious man in the area after they received a report around 8:50 a.m.
The Cornwall Community Hospital also announced over its public address system that the McConnell Avenue site was also on lockdown.
The hospital is only accepting ambulances and critical care walkups.
More to come.