A firearms incident at a residential home in Caroline forced a lockdown at Caroline School on Tuesday afternoon.
Approximately 200 students from kindergarten to Grade 12 were kept in the gymnasium past school hours after police notified administration of an incident taking place nearby.
Wild Rose Public School Superintendent Brian Celli said they received a call from the Rocky Mountain House RCMP detachment at approximately 2:30 p.m.
“We were very concerned that with the release of school coming that we were going to have kids, parents and buses all around the school at a time where there may be stray bullets for all they knew,” Celli said.
“Whenever you get the heads-up that there is something like this happening, more or less right across the street from the school, you have a hallow open up in your stomach.”
RCMP K Division spokesperson Sgt. Patricia Neely said they were dealing with a suicidal man with a firearm and the lockdown of the school was “simply a precaution.”
Celli said they were given the all-clear from the RCMP around 4:40 p.m. The incident ended peacefully.
“We determined at the south end of the school there was a safe place to bring the buses in and load the kids who were bus students and take them directly away from the school. And any parents who wished to pick up their kids could go to the same place.
“Everybody else was put in the gym with the teachers and we waited it out until that time.”
Celli said the RCMP seemed to get the situation under control quickly.
He noted that they were very good at communicating with school administration.
“It was a good opportunity to make sure that we have our protocols working and you never know that unfortunately until you get right into the heat of the moment.”
Caroline is 91 kms west of Red Deer.
jjones@www.reddeeradvocate.com