Vernon RCMP not pursuing charges against student who brought Airsoft gun to school

VERNON – Police will not be pursuing criminal charges against a student who brought an Airsoft pistol into Vernon Secondary School, prompting a full lockdown procedure.

Const. Jocelyn Noseworthy says all available officers were dispatched to the school Wednesday morning, Jan. 28, after a neighbour reported seeing someone enter the school with a weapon.

“We did locate a student with an Airsoft gun, that gun has been seized,” Noseworthy says.

Officers interviewed the student, but Noseworthy says charges are not being considered by the RCMP.

In a media release issued Jan. 27, School District superintendent Joe Rogers said "at no time was any student or staff member in danger." The safe schools team was deployed, and the District Threat Assessment Protocol was effectively followed, Rogers said. The lockdown was lifted at 9:50 a.m.

Noseworthy wouldn’t comment on the details of RCMP response such as how many officers were dispatched, as a precaution against future incidents of a similar nature. She said the detachment takes such reports extremely seriously.

“La Loche is just another example of how these situations can go so terribly wrong,” she said.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Charlotte Helston at chelston@infonews.ca or call 250-309-5230. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.