“Pretty scary.”
That’s the first thing Ahmar Khan, a student at Mount Royal University, said Monday afternoon as Calgary police issued a “shelter in place” order after reports of a man with a weapon spotted on campus.
It started with that sudden change you don’t really expect at MRU. Khan described the moment when officers arrived—big police presence, people trying to figure out what was happening. “All of a sudden you’ve got cops coming in and we don’t know who the suspect is — you never see this on campus here — these big guns, they’re walking in, they didn’t tell us nothing,” he said.
The order was issued around 2:45 p.m. Monday and lifted just over two hours later. According to Calgary police, officers were called out to the university and interviewed witnesses who reported seeing the man carrying a large knife.
Kyla Isidro, another MRU student, was in the Arts Building when she got an email from the university. “(It) described the person as a male and the details of what this person was wearing. It was a bit unclear about what happened but when we went out of the hallway the Calgary Police Service was there.” She added the message didn’t spell out whether there was actually a weapon—at least not in a clear way—just a brief description of what the person was wearing.
For students, the uncertainty was the hardest part. The shelter-in-place order is one of those alerts that makes you stop moving for a second, listen, then move again—except you don’t always know what you’re moving toward. One small detail stuck in the air for witnesses: the sound of radios and foot traffic picking up near hallways, that kind of restless campus quiet that suddenly isn’t quiet anymore.
Police said the order was lifted around 5 p.m. Monday after officers, who were in the process of clearing the scene, received information identifying the person as a staff member of the university who was working as a chef. So—some relief there, but also a reminder of how quickly a campus can flip from routine to emergency mode.
Police also said one person was taken into custody and charges may be laid. The whole thing moved fast: from “shelter in place” to “lifted” in just over two hours, with the explanation coming after officers got the identifying information. And still, even with that resolution, you could feel how shaken some students were—actually, maybe not shocked, exactly, but definitely unsettled.
Labor says it hasn’t been asked to join US Hormuz blockade
Tornado Watch Canceled: Severe Storms Back Tuesday
Lineker shifts Man City vs Arsenal title pick after weekend swings