Bowden Institution is under a lockdown after a critical safety item went missing early Thursday morning.
Rita Wehrle, assistant warden management services, Correctional Service of Canada, said they have reasonable grounds to believe an item critical to the security of the institution went missing on Thursday morning.
Wehrle would not release what the missing item for safety and security reasons.
The medium security federal penitentiary was placed on lockdown at 11:15 a.m. on Thursday in order to conduct an exceptional or specific search of the institution.
The penitentiary will reopen when the search is completed. Visits are suspended until the search is completed. Wehrle said the search could take a couple of hours or a couple of days.
“The continued safety and security of our staff and inmates is our number one priority,” said Wehrle. “We will remain in a lockdown situation until we believe it is safe to reopen.”