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BioScience Building locked down

Post author By Neal Yonson
Post date January 30, 2008
8 Comments on BioScience Building locked down

from the UBC website:

There has been a police incident at the Bio Sciences Building, which is located at the intersection of Main Mall and University Boulevard at the University of British Columbia.

On the advice of the RCMP, the Bio Sciences Building has been locked down. Building occupants have been instructed to stay where they are, to secure the room in which they are located, and to await further instructions from the RCMP.

No person will be permitted to enter or leave the Bio Sciences Building without RCMP authorization.

Out of an abundance of caution, the RCMP is advising that others on campus stay where they are currently located. All campus occupants should be aware of their surroundings and report any suspicious circumstances to the RCMP at 911. Persons who are not on campus are advised to remain away from the campus until further notice.

Further information, as it becomes available, will be posted at http://www.ubc.ca.

Stephen J. Toope
President and Vice Chancellor

Also, check out this link:
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By Neal Yonson

Neal Yonson is a native of Ottawa. He graduated from the University of Toronto with an Hon.B.Sc. in 2006 and will be happy to tell you about how things seemed to work more smoothly there. After traveling across the country for free (protip: strategically arrange grad school visits where they reimburse travel) he came to UBC to start a Ph.D. in chemistry. He was quite happy to avoid student issues until he found out how much it cost to go to the BirdCoop. Since then, he has been involved with a variety of advocacy projects.

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8 replies on “BioScience Building locked down”

Gina, you are such a psychic. You can catch news so quickly even from another continent…omg

Does anyone know what this is about?

Posts on a blog from someone reportedly in the building indicated that there was a possibly armed suicidal student acting threateningly.

Rumours outside the building when I walked by and stopped to talk were that people heard of a hostage situation and an armed gunman.

Well, we just had an update from Fred Fotis here at AMS council. Apparently an email was sent to the RCMP this morning from someone threatening harm to themselves and others. They decided to lock down the building sometime in the afternoon (I was there till 12:30 and nothing was happening). My lab got evacuated out by 3:50. Fred couldn’t tell us what actually happened. Apparently, if anyone is traumatized, there’s councelling available.

I was finishing a meeting with an AVP at 1:30pm when his phone and blackberry went off, his secretary knocked on the door, and an immediate underling walked in wearing a high-vis vest, all within the space of about 5-10 seconds. Before 1:30, the RCMP were apparently evaluating whether there was a plausible threat. So there’s your timeline.