Hostage-taking prompts school security review
Posted Mar 5, 2010 7:35 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The Calgary Board of Education is going to review security procedures following a dramatic hostage-taking at A.E. Cross Junior High in the southwest.
A man armed with a butcher’s knife entered the school Thursday afternoon around 2:00 p.m. wanting to talk to the principle.
The 25-year-old former student apparently has a grudge with the principal, stemming from an old sports injury.
Soon after, the secretary told the man the principal was not available – and that’s when she was taken hostage.
A 13-year-old boy who was in a nearby room found a hiding place and called his mother, who then called police.
Two hours after the ordeal began, the man with the knife surrendered to police after agreeing to exchange his hostage for a bottle of water.
The man has not yet been identified or charged.
As the hostage drama unfolded, the 575 students happened to be across the hallway in the gym for a post-Olympic celebration.
Canadian curler and Olympic medalist, Carolyn Darbyshire, was in the principal’s office waiting to address students when the suspect stormed in.
According to the Calgary Herald, she managed to escape and call for help; moments later, Darbyshire gathered her composure and carried on with the pep-rally in the gym to distract the students until police arrived.
Deputy Superintendent with the Calgary Board of Education, David Stevenson, has nothing but praise for how staff dealt with the serious situation.
He says while it appears current security plans were sufficient, they will conduct a review to see if anything can be improved.
The school is closed Friday because of a scheduled Professional Development day.
Crisis counsellors will be at the school Monday to offer help to anybody who might be having trouble dealing with what happened.
