If you were travelling along Lakeshore Drive around 4 p.m. on Thursday, as many BayToday readers were, you probably saw multiple North Bay Police Service cruisers with lights and sirens activated moving at a high rate of speed toward the Marshall Park area of West Ferris.
According to NBPS, "Around 4 p.m. on Thursday, May 18, members of the North Bay Police Service responded to a report of a gunshot near West Ferris Secondary School."
Police moved to cover the exits from the school's grounds. "Officers responded and determined the sound had originated from a starter's pistol used for a track and field event," says NBPS spokesperson David Woolley, while clarifying, "Officers did not draw their firearms."
West Ferris Secondary School confirms the events of Thursday afternoon. Gillian Kajganich, the school's principal says police are typically notified ahead of time of the use of the starter's pistol for track and field to avoid such situations but in this case, a "miscommunication" led to the police being left unaware of its use.
The North Bay Police Service is not requesting schools change their methods for starting races. "Schools are entitled to use a starter pistol at events," says Woolley. "As far as I am aware, this is the first such incident in which we received a call involving the sound of a starter's pistol being mistaken for gunshots."