A day after Sheridan College was put on lockdown following reports of a student carrying a long-barrelled gun, the college's president says they still don't know whether there was actually a firearm on campus.
A teacher reported seeing a man with a rifle was roaming the campus Friday afternoon around 2 p.m. Heavily armed police were called to the Oakville, Ont. College but found no guns and no gunman.
Meanwhile, students and staff were told by a message over the loudspeakers to stay under their desks and in their rooms.
College President Robert Turner said that after reviewing security footage alongside numerous police officers, it was still nearly impossible to tell what the item in question actually was.
"We had two different looks of somebody carrying something that was long and tubular, that could be interpreted as a gun," Turner told CTV Toronto's Mairianna Bachynsky. "(It) might not be a gun. Probably 30 police officers viewed this tapes yesterday and weren't able to determine that it wasn't a gun."
He said the report combined with the footage gave school officials reason to expect the worst.
One student told CTV that some on campus believe it might have been a hoax.
"There's lots of rumors going around," said John Hepburn. "We think... it had to do with a tripod. I'm still not really sure."
Halton Police say there's no imminent threat to students and staff here and their investigation continues. Police hope to seize more from security footage from surrounding areas to determine if there really was a gunman on campus.
With files from CTV Toronto's MairiAnna Bachynsky
