Lockdown lifted at Hamilton school after police search for shooting suspect
Posted November 30, 2023 1:22 pm.
Last Updated November 30, 2023 5:30 pm.
A lockdown has been lifted at Bernie Custis Public Secondary School in Hamilton after police were called to the school for the second straight day.
The hold and secure at nearby Prince of Wales Elementary School has also been lifted.
In an update Thursday evening, Hamilton Police say the school was locked down after police received a tip that a suspect in an earlier shooting may have went to the school.
Hamilton Police responded to a verbal dispute between two teenagers and two individuals in high-visibility vests at a bus shelter near King Street and Caroline Street at around noon, police said in a release.
“The altercation escalated, and one of the youth fired a shot. Fortunately, there are no reported injuries.”
“Following a tip that one suspect might have headed towards Bernie Custis Secondary School, the police placed the school in lockdown,” the release explains.
Officers searched the school but did not locate the suspect and the lockdown was lifted.
Police say Thursday’s incident is not connected to another lockdown that took place at the same school on Wednesday after reports of an armed person on the school property.
Following Wednesday’s investigation, a 15-year-old student was arrested and charged with possessing cocaine and fentanyl, as well as being in possession of proceeds of crime under $5,000.
Police were first called to the school on King Street East at around 11 a.m. Wednesday.
Upon arrival, investigators said a person suspected of carrying a weapon was seen leaving the school in a vehicle, which was later located at a nearby gas station.
Five occupants in the car were taken into custody as police searched for a firearm which they were led to believe was in a bag within the school.
