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Explosives found in two separate incidents near school

A 33-year-old man has been arrested after two incidents involving explosives being found near an Edmonton elementary school.Police closed a road in front of the school Monday and called in a robot to investigate a suspicious package.

EDMONTON — A 33-year-old man has been arrested after two incidents involving explosives being found near an Edmonton elementary school.

Police closed a road in front of the school Monday and called in a robot to investigate a suspicious package.

Explosive devices were found in the field of the same school, Ecole Frere Antoine Elementary, several days ago.

Police say the man who was arrested was carrying a backpack and told officers there were explosives in it.

Police say the type of explosive they believe is involved is most often used for sound effects rather than hurting people.

Charges are now pending and police say the suspect is co-operating.

On Monday, the school sent a letter to parents advising them that “potentially toxic and flammable chemicals” were left in the school field over the weekend.

“Police investigated and discovered that the bottles were filled with some chemicals that could potentially cause harm to someone if they were mixed together,” said principal Danielle Fortier in the letter.

“This morning we held a school assembly to let children know about the suspicious items and ask that they not pick up anything in the playground but to let a trusted adult know about the item.”

Parents said the school was under lockdown for about 30 minutes Monday.

Some parents described the situation as “terrifying” while others questioned why they weren’t informed about the incident over the weekend.

Lori Nagy with Edmonton Catholic Schools says the school notified students and parents as soon as it was aware of the incident.

“The school only found out about the incident today,” Nagy said.

“That’s when the school decided to hold an assembly with the children, let them know what’s happened in the past days and also let children know that they are safe.”

The area was re-opened Monday evening.