Fredericton school lockdowns triggered by man with umbrella

The personphotographed carrying what appeared to be a firearm near a high school a sighting that triggered a lockdownof four Fredericton schools this morning was actually carrying an umbrella, say city police after theylocated the man.

"This image is of the umbrella that the man was carrying this morning," the police force said on itsFacebookpage, after the nearly three-hour lockdown endedFriday.

"As you can see, it has significant resemblance to a weapon."

Police received a report about 9 a.m. ATindicating a teenage boy dressed in dark clothing was carrying a firearm in a gun sock.

Fredericton High School andPriestmanStreetElementary School werelocked down for precautionary purposes.

The high school typicallyhas a student enrolment of about 1,800.Priestmanhad a school population of 527 at the start of the current school year.

Thelockdownsalso affectednearbycoleSte-AnneandcoledesBtisseursin the French school system. No students are at those two schools Friday, butteachers are present.

After the lockdowns ended,Fredericton policereleasedphotosof a person they said they would like to speak to about the Friday morning call that led to thelockdowns.

They eventually made contact with the person carrying the umbrella.

During the incident, police hadsaid they were"taking a measured approach to deal with this situation."

"We realize that during incidents like these, the public's worry and concern can be significantly heightened.

"We can assure you that we take these reports very seriously, which is why we have deployed significant resources at this time."