campus safety//

Youth with water gun arrested after reports of armed man on UBC campus

The AMS Nest was evacuated around 11 a.m. this morning after reports of an armed man in the building.

UBC Media Relations directed The Ubyssey to a UBC Campus Security update which said RCMP arrested a youth who had been carrying a water gun, not a firearm.

“The building is safe and all normal operations have resumed with no threat to the university,” read the update. 

An announcement over the Nest’s intercom instructed people to evacuate the building immediately and informed them the evacuation was “not a drill.” No other forms of communication, such as a widespread text alert or an alarm, were issued to notify staff and students of the ongoing situation. University RCMP and Campus Security were present.

Second-year business student Kevin Wei told The Ubyssey he was watching a video on the third floor of the Nest when he heard the evacuation announcement over the loudspeaker.

“Everyone got … spooked and we all left,” Wei said. 

As he was walking down the stairs with others, Wei said he saw two police officers make the arrest.

“[The] guy was on the ground, head [and] face facing the ground, hands behind his back. These two police officers were on top of him,” he said. 

Second-year computer science student David Jiang told The Ubyssey he was sitting in the Nest when he witnessed the two officers run up the building’s main stairway, and expressed his alarm. 

“I saw one [officer] with a rifle, and they were telling everybody to evacuate,” he said. “I wasn’t so concerned about the evacuation itself, but it was very alarming that they had guns, just how that might reflect on the situation.”  

University RCMP Constable Sheldon Holt addressed a crowd outside the Nest after the arrest was made. He said it was safe to re-enter the building around 11:30 a.m.

University RCMP Constable Sheldon Holt addressed a crowd outside the Nest after the arrest was made.

“We had a report on a gunman at this location,” Holt said. “Since then, the threat has been secured, everything is safe."

Holt also stressed the importance of complying with immediacy to police commands before he thanked the crowd for their cooperation. 

“Going forward, please listen to our commands. When I’m yelling, ‘Clear the building,’ that means move now,” he said. “That split second of grabbing your things or worrying [about] what’s going on could cost you your life [and] could cost me my life.”

In a statement to The Ubyssey, University RCMP said it arrested a youth who had been carrying a water gun.

"The youth was subsequently released to a guardian."

The AMS, who runs the Nest, did not respond to The Ubyssey's request for comment by press time.

This article was updated October 29 at 1:40 p.m. to include comment from University RCMP.

— With files from Elita Menezes

Saumya Kamra photographer