www.oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday February 13, 2008 - 13 Police confirm tripod sighting triggered Sheridan lockdown By David Lea OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Sightings of a gunman on campus, which sparked Friday's threehour lockdown of Sheridan College, are now known to have been false. Police made the announcement after locating the young man who was seen walking the halls of Sheridan's Oakville Campus with a long tubular object, which an instructor and a number of students felt looked too much like a shotgun or rifle to ignore. "We've investigated, we've talked with him and we have determined that it was a camera tripod he was carrying," said Sgt. Brian Carr, Public Affairs Officer, Halton Police. Carr noted the individual was quite surprised to learn that he was at the centre of the lockdown in which tactical units from Halton, Peel and Hamilton conducted a prolonged room-by-room search of the campus, while hundreds of students huddled in their classrooms and waited for police to tell them it was safe to leave. The massive police effort yielded no weapons or suspects and the investigation continued until Monday when the man with the tripod was interviewed. False alarm or not, Sheridan President and CEO Dr. Robert Turner is pleased with the way his students and staff preformed during the lockdown. "There's a real sense of pride at DAVID LEA / OAKVILLE BEAVER JUST IN CASE: Tactical units from Halton, Peel and Hamilton responded to the lockdown at Sheridan on Friday. "Once we were in lockdown, which took minutes, 25-30 trained police officers viewed our video of the person we were concerned about. They freeze framed different angles, up close, stop motion for an hour and couldn't determine that it wasn't a gun. If you think that's an overreaction, then I'm glad you weren't in charge." Dr. Robert Turner, Sheridan president and CEO Sheridan that we were ready and that we put the safety of students and our staff above all else. Thanks to years of planning and a simulation in October we were ready," said Turner. "The lockdown was very successful." While satisfied with the lockdown policy, Turner is still actively seeking ways to improve it, holding eight open forums since Friday to talk with staff and students about their lockdown experiences. "Every time there is an incident, we learn from it," said Turner. "For example our Chair of Emergency Preparedness went to Dawson College last fall and learned from their unfortunate experiences in a hands-on way, so we've incorporated those learnings into our systems." This time around, the open forums Sheridan has held since the lockdown have yielded numerous suggestions that may be incorporated into future lockdown policy. "The big things we're working on is locks and window coverings so we can make each room as secure as possible," said Turner. "By this Friday we're releasing a further training program for our staff and faculty. There will be a lot of learning and that learning will continue." For those who would say Sheridan overreacted to reports of a gunman on campus, Turner is making no apologies. "When one faculty member and eight students say they saw a gun, that is sufficient for us going into lockdown," said Turner. "Once we were in lockdown, which took minutes, 25-30 trained police officers viewed our video of the person we were concerned about. They freeze framed different angles, up close, stop motion for an hour and couldn't determine that it wasn't a gun. If you think that's an overreaction, then I'm glad you weren't in charge." Turner noted that once lockdown is in place and the police are called, it is their show entirely, but he supports their large showing of force and their systematic search of the campus as history has shown that to do otherwise can have lethal consequences. "At Virginia Tech they thought they had it sorted out at one end of the campus, meanwhile at the other end 30 more people were killed," he said.