UPDATE: Second hold and secure in two days issued at Penticton schools

For the second day in a row, the RCMP have asked the school district in Penticton to implement a hold and secure, this time at two schools in the city.

Okanagan Skaha School District superintendent Todd Manuel says a hold and secure took place at Princess Margaret Secondary and Skaha Lake Middle Schools this afternoon, Oct. 16. He says the threat involved a report to police that someone in the community may have had a weapon in their backpack.

“We get direction on hold and secures from RCMP, if there is a threat outside or in the community, police will contact the school administrator to ask for a hold and secure on the students in the building,” Manuel says.

The RCMP called around 1:40 p.m. today to ask for the hold and secure while they investigated a potential threat in the community.

The hold lasted approximately 25 minutes before being called off by the RCMP, who later issued a statement of their own regarding the incident.

RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Mike Field said a man was seen walking down Green Avenue with what a member of the public believed was a firearm in the man's backpack.

He wasn't displaying threatening behaviour but as a precautionary measure, police requested the two schools be temporarily secured while multiple cruisers responded to the area.

Police were unable to locate the man, and roughly a half hour later they advised the schools they could re-open.

Penticton Secondary School was subject to a hold and secure action yesterday after students reported seeing an axe in the backpack of a man who approached them on school property.

– This story was updated at 4:00 p.m., Oct. 16,  to include details of the incident from the RCMP.

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