Tripod Prompts Lockdown at Sheridan College
When I first heard the news yesterday, that Sheridan College had been locked down because of a gunman, I felt chills run up my spine. Someone from my work had just been sent over to the school to talk about sales, and back at my office we were all concerned. Thankfully it was reported later in the day that there was no attack. Today, however, it's been revealed that the gun sighting that caused a professor to call in the emergency and the subsequent police lockdown was actually... a camera tripod sighting.
The emergency response came about when a professor and eight students reported seeing a suspicious man in camouflage carrying around a "long, tubular object". The police came in and forced students to stay in their classes and dorm rooms until around 4:30pm. Ambulances and emergency vehicles were called in and at the ready, but no gun shots were heard, and no one was hurt. An exhaustive two hour search of the area resulted in the uncovering of no gunman, and no threat.
And today we've learned that this was all triggered by a tripodman, not a gunman.
This got me thinking. Is this level of reaction warranted? Do we need to be so cautious/suspicious/paranoid as to call in the police when a student is seen with a "long, tubular object", that could be a gun, or a tripod, or a document tube, or anything else roughly the same shape and size of a gun (which comes in many different shapes and sizes)?
The fear and quick reaction may have stemmed from the recollection of actual incidents. Attacks that have gone on in other schools and reported by the media (most recently the stabbings at Humberside Collegiate, and on a larger scale, the shootings at Dawson College in Montreal a year and a half ago) may still be fresh on our minds. It also doesn't help that we've experienced the foolish antics of a hoax bomber. But I have to wonder if we're scaring ourselves silly. At what point does reactionary panic surpass common sense?
Sheridan College is known internationally for its animation program, and there are most likely hundreds of students at that school carrying around tripods. Was it the camouflage attire of the tripodman that caused the professor's mind (and the minds of eight other students, we can't forget) to turn directly to the worst case scenario? Clearly, hasty reactions to non-treats sometimes lead to lots of lost time and money, but how could this incident have been handled differently? Should the professor have pursued the tripodman to get a better look at the tripod before calling it a gun?
Although this was another false alarm, I do applaud the school's security and Halton Region police for responding so quickly. It's nice to know that when a threat is perceived, especially in this age of easily acquired firearms and increasingly dangerous schools, response is timely and effective.
Police are still looking for the man that caused the lockdown, and if anyone has any info, they'd like you to call it in to Crime Stoppers. The man is white, around six-feet tall with a medium build, has brown hair with a prominent bald spot and long sideburns. He was last seen wearing blue jeans, a lumber style jacket that was possibly green and thin glasses.
Oh, and he may be a videographer or photographer, so watch out. He might take your picture. It's not yet clear exactly what kind of tripod was carrying. I wonder what would have happened had he been carrying around one of these!
Photo by Photosapience, and not an actual photo from the incident.
Comments (49)
I wonder what would've happened if he'd been carying one of these on his shoulder:
It reminds me of a lock down at a hospital in the good old US of A where they thought a kayak paddle was a shotgun and locked the place down.
Why the FUCK are the police on the lookout for a guy with a tripod? Are they gonna arrest him for wearing a camo hoodie? What a fucking waste of the city's resources.
Though, I am happy that police responded as quickly as I hear they did. At a film and animation school, though, the fuckwit professor should have known better. Beware OCAD students, especially if you're walking around with one of those portfolio rollie tubes for your work! IT'S A FUCKING PIPE BOMB!
Now what the hell is this all about reporting this guy to crime stoppers? Another big fucking waste of resources, in this case! There wasn't any crime committed, aside from a criminal sense of fashion. Seriously, camo is ugly. Unless it's a mini skirt. Then it's ok, cuz it ain't hidin' nothin'.
If he was last seen wearing "blue jeans, a lumber style jacket that was possibly green and thin glasses," then he wasn't wearing camouflage. Did he change clothes between being reported and being "last seen"?
Maybe they want to confirm whether or not his tripod is on the national tripod registry list? Or maybe they plan to use their police clout to sign him up to a wardrobe makeover reality show?
Like the Boston incident - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_bomb_scare - the police are probably looking for the guy so they can interrogate, arrest, and charge him with a crime. Right now they just look foolish, but if there's a perp arrested, people inherently think the earlier actions were justified. The concept of coming out and saying, "Uh, we overreacted. Sorry" assuredly does not cross anyone's mind. Rather, the instinct is to cover the institution's butt by trying to scapegoat some random student for the overreaction.
Dude, if you're out there: burn that jacket, hide the tripod, and never come forward. You have nothing to gain and everything to lose.
I was at the school when this happened and it was scary as hell. I rather the police come for a tripod sighting that could be mistaken for a gun, and we all live then no one bothering to call police and someone gets killed because it really was a gun. You all try living through something like this and make your stupid comments. Let us not forget about all the school shootings where no one was called in time.
whatiswrongwithallofyou, I live in Boston. Where two of the 9/11 hijacked flights originated.
And, also, where the Great Boston LED Freakout of 2007 occured.
Unlike yourself, I refused to live in a constant state of self-induced pantswetting terror.
I, and you, are FAR more likely to be injured in our homes by slipping in the bathtub, than to be killed by the scary terrorists, the scary gunmen or the superscary boogieman.
Grow a pair, grow up and join the grownups who refuse to be scared, who refuse to be terrorized, who refuse to swallow the propaganda of those who profit from people like you who wet themselves everytime the wind blows or you see a shadow.
I was in Boston when the Aqua Teen Hunger Force Mooninites attacked, and I was embarrassed for Boston, even as a visitor. I never expected that same kind of insta-fear to rear its head here, but it's proving to be something the whole world is dealing with these days.
The creepy part is that, having realized it was a bloody tripod... the police are still looking for the guy.
Sheridan College eh..Humber College is a bit different, someone was able to be robbed at gun point at the student center..thats a bit of a double standard dont you think?
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Maybe I should delete my Youtube video. People carrying tripods in an odd way? TERRIFYING!
Zero-cost steadicam (just a tripod)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1aPbwcqquk
Similar things happen in England but with chair legs.
Basically, it's simple hoplophobia. The professor has been conditioned to fear weapons and, in his panic, he passed his fear on to his students. He is to be pitied and counseling should be made available to get him past this paralyzing fear of odd shapes.
Well, there was an incident here where a professor took a black-powder rifle to class carrying it openly (for a class), somebody wet their pants and called the cops, and one cop shows up, says "Oh, just an old muzzle loader carried by a bearded old guy - no threat" and goes back about his business like nothing happened.
No lockdown, no APB, no SWAT, no nothing. Guy openly carries a gun onto campus and the reaction is very minor. I'm glad I live in a sane place instead of some place with such a paralyzing fear of guns that someone *imagining* they saw a gun is cause to lock down a campus, waste dozens of cops' time, and spend tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars.
I am kind of impressed with the speed of their action. Because of Sheridan's layout, I can see it being a very dangerous place to be if someone decided to go on a rampage. (Unlike campuses that are more spread out.)
I don't blame the school for taking the action it did based on the calls it received from -several- people.
I wonder though how this guy was carrying a tripod, at an arts school no less, to make several people think he possibly had a gun. I'm sure people carry tripods around all the time there, so why doesn't this happen more often?
Perhaps we're seeing a ROM pipebomb hoax copycat?
As a Sheridan Media Arts alumni, I can't even begin to quantify the number of times I was walking past the library with a tripod on one shoulder, a big duffle bag full of equipment and what would charitably be described as an 'angry face'.
Frankly, anyone at that school should know better -- between the photography program and the media program... sigh.
> It's nice to know that when a threat is perceived, especially in this age of easily acquired firearms and increasingly dangerous schools, response is timely and effective.
Mmm, sarcasn...
Seriously, what's wrong with these people? I'm sure they'd wet themselves if they saw my meager collection.
hey look, a bunch of cynical assholes who don't realize that school and college shootings have happened here in Canada too!
I'd bet good money that there are some WVU students who wish that their admins had the same quick reaction time as the powers that be at Sheridan.
get over your smug hubris people, it's a different world now. the type of world where people tote guns on campus and where tripods can easily be mistaken for guns.
No, Cooney, it's not a different world. You're more likely to be hit by lightning than killed by terrorists at an Ontario arts school.
I went to Sheridan in the 80s, and the cops in Oakville are dumber than a bag of hammers, and only half as useful. One of my friends was harassed way back then for carrying one of those big tubes for storing artwork. "That's what we call a bazooka," said the cop.
So, no...it's the same old crap. It's a free country, though, so feel free to cower in fear if you want, you big sissy.
Sheridan's a great school...shame it's in Oakville.
Back in the days when I lived in New York City, I was walking past Union Square. Nearby they were doing a fashion shoot, using the old Flat Iron building as a back drop. Suddenly a homeless guy grabbed one of the lighting tripods and began swinging it at the photographer and his assistances! He struck one assistant in the back as she tried to escape and then took a swing at the photographer's head, missing by inches before several bystanders grabbed the homeless man and wrestled the tripod away from him. Those tripods can be dangerous weapons -they should be outlawed, or at least controlled through strict licensing! -I wasn't one of the bystanders who helped the photographer because I was ahh..to far away but I would have -no, really I would.
Nukky puts artwork in a bazooka!?! What kinda nut is Nukky? -ok, I use a 357 revolver to hold my pencils, but that's different...
Once time, I placed my brief case on the x-ray conveyor for airport security. The person running the x-ray yelled, "Stop... Look at this..." Security personnel showed me what happened. My umbrella became a barrel, the calculator became a magazine, and the key ring and key became trigger and trigger guard.
Posted by: Alex Delarge at February 10, 2008 3:46 AM
Sheridan College eh..Humber College is a bit different, someone was able to be robbed at gun point at the student center..thats a bit of a double standard dont you think?
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Hey Alex, do you have a link to the story? Im a Humber alum (2003) and remember all to well the craziness that would happen on campus (repeated bomb threats around midterms (where my Program director was enlisted by the police to help look for the bomb!), muggings on campus, assaults in rez(!), sword fights at the nearby hospital(????!!!!). 'Good' to know nothing's changed.
Hey, lets be clear about one thing here. Police reported that the suspected gun MAY HAVE BEEN a tripod. It was not clearly exposed and therefore police still don't know what was actually there. I can't imagine that police are exhausting too much effort in trying to find the perpatrator, however the fact that the person is still wanted for investigation makes sense in the idea that it may have been a shotgun.
I got out of the school just before it happened, and I spent all afternoon communicating with people locked down in the school.
The professor may have overreacted at the situation, but also know that EIGHT other people witnessed the 'long, dark tubular object' and were concerned. I'd say thats cause enough to contact campus security. and it was at the campus security's discretion to call police. Students and professors are all used to seeing tripods around, there are photography and media arts students with them constantly.
But I can't say I'm surprised at seeing this conversation. If there weren't people blaming the overreaction, there would be an outcry of people ranting about the lack of reaction. I personally would like to thank the Halton Regional Police for the quick and efficient reaction, and commend the professor and other witnesses for taking action. We're not living in fear of terrorism, we're being smart about protecting ourselves.
Such an age of fear, constant fear, overwhelming fear. Always without a single shred of rational thought to go with it.
So he is walking through the school and an idiot from a distance thinks it might have been a weapon. Was he alone in the school? Were there no students or other faculty not passing by him? If there was you think they might have had a better look and they would have reacted?
This is the problem, the media have taught us to fear everything. Decades of teaching weakness has resulted in people who are both unable and unwilling to take chances and to think for themselves.
Knee jerk reactions over nothing is the name of the game and we are all players.
When I was a kid, a psycho girl in Cleveland opened fire on a school. It was the source of the Boomtown Rats song I Don't Like Mondays.
Everyone saw it for what it was, a freak occurrence, a terrible tragedy, a sad, disgraceful act. No one panicked, schools across the nation were not locked down, the media didn't run 24/7 horrorshows for our voyeuristic pleasure.
we moved on.
That doesn't happen anymore. Everyone lives in constant fear of everything all the time without using reason to affect judgment.
The worst part is if the guy comes forward and says it was him with the tripod, they'll likely fine him for the cost of bringing out the police and emergency teams.
Never mind it was a completely bogus report - they have to pin the costs on someone.
This reminds me of my father, 1977 in Poland. We've been there for holidays, he's originally coming from there and wanted to see his old home etc. so we went on holiday there during the cold war. He just took some pictures with his camera, normal street life. An officer came and arrested him. Later they told him, that in this street there was someting like a "military building" (in fact there was nothing like this). They took the pictures from the camera and let him go, but I guess the whole thing was quite normal for the eastern block at this time. Strange that the western block is now doing the same bad things: constructiong crimes where no crimes have been. Very sad, thank God I don't have kids, this world will become very hard in the future...
If you guys read the papers properly it says that it MAY have been a tripod whICH Means they're not 100% sure so obviously they have to be cautious and find the guy just in case it was a gun. AND if you guys weren't at the school when this happened then don't fucking leave a comment. You have no right being so fucking rude when you don't know what it was like. I was there and it was the scariest thing that ever happened to me. For three hours I was hiding in the dark under a desk thinking a guy with a rifle was going to come in any minute and shoot me. I'm happy the teacher reported the guy, he was looking out for OUR safety and I'm glad the school reacted, once again, looking out for our safety. Better to be safe than sorry ass holes.
They had a similar event here only the suspect object was, get this... a rolled up yoga mat.
I'm not kidding.
They don't need to find the guy, even if it was a gun, he's gone and no-one got shot or even threatened. It's over, and he was and is no threat.
And Eva, it's not the scariest thing that ever happened to you, because nothing at all happened *to* you. Your fear was entirely your own making. You've allowed your life to be put at the mercy of others, so get used to cowering under your desk for hours, it's going to be the story of your life. In a sane school, you and/or some of your classmates would have brought guns to school as a matter of course, and been prepared to defend yourselves in the extremely unlikely event you ever needed to. That your school is a victim disarmament zone only makes it more likely you'll need to some day, and that you'll have no means besides your bare hands and a sharp pencil (and maybe a heavy tripod) to do it with. Things like VT could happen at your school *because* it's so unusual to see a gun that grown men swoon at the sight of anything that even resembles one.
What's with the social-construction of fear debate going on? Even if fear is a personal construct, doesn't that make it less possible to deny or take from someone? Asking somone to "grow-a-pair" reinforces the construct of gender in which our society has been held hostage under patriarchal rule and from which much of the construction of this type of fear originates.
Or maybe I read it wrong and the person meant breasts, not balls.
who are you to say nothing has ever happened to me? You don't fucking know me! I have had other terrible things occur in my life before actually and this was BY FAR the scariest so I recommend knowing before speaking... or typing in this case. Regardless what the guy was carrying me and my friends still thought a gunman was in our school and was going to burst through the door at any second. If you've never lived through something like that than you seriously have no fucking idea what it's like. And for your information (seeing as you guys are noisy and are butting into things that have nothing to do with you) the guy did come forward (because he's decent and wanted people to stop worrying unlike some of you would do) and he was carrying a camera stand.
Anyway besides the point, don't fucking tell me how I feel. You're not me, you weren't there, so you have no clue. Fuck off and don't fucking talk to me you piece of shit!
Police have confirmed that it was in fact a student carrying a microphone tripod from Sheridan College's Media Arts program that triggered the 3h emergency lockdown. Whoooopsies.
@ Eva: there's a lot of aggression and violent language coming from those typing fingers of yours. You really should consider some kind of anger management therapy. I am concerned that you might escalate that kind of controlling domineering language into actual violence against someone who doesn't behave the way you want them to.
I find it disgusting that AMERICAN FEAR propaganda has spread to Canada. Oh...I've got a sniffle, must be the Avian flu or Anthrax or something.
@ Kyle Bennett - do you even have any kind of education? I read the first piece about your toaster ordeal and was amazed at the lack of any intelligence of any kind. If you want a toaster, then buy a toaster. Fear originates from ignorance and used by governments. All that crap about "society has been held hostage under patriarchal rule and from which much of the construction of this type of fear originates", maybe you should grow a "pair" as well.
hey look! another University shooting in the states!
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/02/14/university.shooting/index.html
but of course, such fears are unfounded.
I was at Sheridan when the lockdown happened... it was a little creepy since we were locked up for hours and didn't know what was going on... But for all the people saying it was the scariest moment of their life, that's pretty pathetic. If a guy comes in the door shooting a gun... well... we all gotta go sometime... What makes you think that a gunman is going to burst in through YOUR locked door compared to the hundred of others in the school?
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