Police have given the all clear after Kwantlen Polytechnic University's five campuses across Metro Vancouver were closed due to "an unsubstantiated threat" Wednesday.
"Police are confident that the areas are safe for the public and there is no imminent threat to safety," Cpl. Elenore Sturko with the Surrey RCMP said in a news release.
KPU received notice of the threat from Surrey RCMP. The threat was not directed to any one campus, however, and the university decided to close them all "out of an abundance of caution and with the highest regard for the safety and security of our students and employees," the university said in a statement.
ALL KPU CAMPUSES ARE CLOSED - Surrey RCMP have alerted us to an unsubstantiated threat against KPU. All classes at all campuses are cancelled for rest of the day and our buildings will remain closed while security reviews the situation. Check https://t.co/ExH8JVbJYd for updates
— KwantlenU (@KwantlenU) May 8, 2019
As a result, at around 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, all KPU buildings were evacuated and classes have been canceled for the rest of the day while the situation is reviewed.
When KPU student Shivani Kumar tried to go to class, she wasn’t allowed in.
“Basically, there was just a cop that showed up and said you can’t come in, cross the street.”
Brad Helgason, principal of an international high school that operates within KPU, said an officer came down their hall and told them they needed to evacuate.
Around 12:15 p.m., he was waiting outside with his students in the Lansdowne Centre parking lot. Even though police told them the school will be shut down for the rest of the day, Helgason and staff were making sure all their students could get home safe.
KPU Richmond’s parking lot was also locked down, meaning students and staff who parked their couldn’t retrieve their cars to go home.
Richmond RCMP confirmed they were on scene.
"We are assisting with an evacuation of the KPU campus in Richmond," Cpl. Dennis Hwang told the Richmond News. "To our knowledge, all the KPU campuses are being evacuated as a precaution for an unspecified threat towards KPU."
At least a dozen RCMP cars and at least one K-9 unit were seen surrounding the Richmond campus and one nearby resident said on Twitter that all roads were closed in the area as well.
I live right next to the Richmond campus, and they have closed the surrounding streets. #richmondbc
— Andrea Eidinger, Ph.D. (@AndreaEidinger) May 8, 2019
This is a developing story and will continue to be updated
