By Shelby Wye
BELLEVILLE – First-person reports from Loyalist students are adding fresh details about Thursday’s intrusion at a campus residence.
Students who live in the college’s new residence complex have confirmed that the breakin took place in Building C, Apartment 4. Neighbours of that apartment said there are two men living there right now, and that a third is away on an internship. The intruders broke into a basement room, students said.
Thursday night is Pub Night at the college’s Shark Tank Pub in the Kente Building, and after the incident broke out those in the pub were told they could not leave unless they were in groups of three.
Riley Maracle, a second-year journalism student, said he went to pub even though the incident was already under way. Friends of his came to his dorm room and told him about the possibility of men with guns on campus, he said. He and a small group of fellow students took a route that avoided the residence area to go to pub.
“We stayed there for a while, about an hour and a half, before leaving” around midnight, said Maracle. This time they walked past the new residence. There were police cars were scattered all across the path, with groups of people milling about outside, he said.
“There were rumours flying everywhere. People were saying the people were from Newmarket; some people were saying they had pistols, others said shotguns. People said that these guys pointed guns to people’s heads,” Maracle said.
There were rumours – so far unconfirmed – that the intruders were the same men who had been asked to leave a party at New Rez last week, and they had threatened then that they were going to come back with guns.
There was not a major online presence of students commenting on the incident this morning, but in the case of one Facebook page it was because posts were being removed. Students were posting on the Loyalist Residence Facebook page throughout the night, asking questions and and talking about the incident. But according to students who were monitoring the site, the posts were removed by page administrators almost as soon as they went up.
Some tweets on the incident:
Disappointed with the lack of information @LoyalistCollege [1] provided last night on the lock down. What system is in place to inform students?
— Little Ozzy (@LittleOzz) November 22, 2013 [2]
“@quintenews [3]: Lockdown, weapons at Loyalist College http://t.co/6PBoNRxX1d [4]” WHOAAAAA.
— katherine langabeer (@katlangabeer) November 22, 2013 [5]
Loyalist College got ran up on last night! EMT was there and everything. #LoyalistCollege [6] #Belleville [7]
— Chris P. (@ChrisP6789) November 22, 2013 [8]
Saddened by the incident at Loyalist last night. What one person chooses does not have to be everyone’s voice. #dontfollownegativeideas [9]
— Jess Turner (@LadaiJay) November 22, 2013 [10]