so I just want to start out by I guess a bit of a disclaimer to let you know that this investigation is obviously very early and that it is ongoing so the information that I'm providing today is going to be very preliminary and that there is a chance that some of it would be subject to change as evidence is gathered and and analyzed so I can start by telling you that at 12:18 uh p.m. today assass Police Service 911 uh call center received a call for service to Evan Hardy Collegiate and there was a report that there was an injured party and also that there was a fire by um happen stance we had a Saskatoon Police Service school resource officer there so a fully uniformed officer was at that school for a different event and he immediately responded into um the area where the event was occurring uh within moments that officer took a 14-year-old female suspect into custody and while the sasun fire department and medavie uh paramedics dealt with a 15-year-old female who was suffering from Burns at this point the scene has been secured the investigation has been turned over to the sasum Police Service serious assault unit and they are now in charge of gathering and analyzing the evidence and at this point we are meeting the sasun Police Service are working with the uh sasun public Board of Education uh to ensure that um we work in sharing information and ensuring that the staff and students are also cared for in terms of uh the protocols that the school board has set in place for traumatic events do we know the status of the victim right now was she taken to hospital what's the current condition they're in I don't have an update on the condition yes she was transported to Royal University Hospital where she is uh presently being treated in the uh emergency area as as far as I understand and I don't have an update as to what um her status is right now you mentioned there was uh you guys responded to a call kind of about a fire in the school do we know how that fire was started at this point we believe we understand how it was started um but that still is subject to um the investigation to make sure that we have it correct was there a Jerry can or anything uh obtained in the investigation that I don't know the scene's been locked down and I haven't personally been there so I don't know what's been gathered but I do know that the scene was secured immediately and has been held right now as being processed by our identification people now one of the things about this you know salt and fire a lot of people are wondering does that does that mean that of this had like was set on fire yes at this point that is what we believe occurred so where's the suspect suspect is presently in our Detention Center she's been placed under arrest do we know the status of the suspect there was some rumors floating around online and obviously a lot of rumors that they might be a Disabled Student do we know that uh and do we know if the two were known to each other I don't have information about either of those um and again like I said it's very early on in the investigation so at this point those answers come as the detectives interview Witnesses and School staff to figure out exactly what if any relationship there was and the status of um of the accused person are both parents of are the parents or relatives of both uh students already being informed yes my understanding is that the victim's parents are notified at the hospital and then the um caregivers of the suspect have also been notified I don't no other injuries any other students staff else correct just to one person oh sorry actually I should back that up one of the uh teachers apparently did suffer some injuries while trying to put out the fire um so that was the only other person that was injured but no other students or staff to my knowledge were injured during the event were they both taken to hospital the teacher as well or the teacher is at hospital I'm not sure if he was transported or took himself but he is at hospital being treated and just to clarify on that as well was this teacher who was involved in this injured trying to put out the fire or was it part of my understanding is that that the teacher was injured trying to put the fire out has there been any property damage as a result of the I I I don't know the answer to that I don't know speak to this but uh our understanding is that students were sent home do we know when they'll be coming back to no that's part of where we work collaboratively with the school board ultimately they are the ones will determine when and if the school can open uh the only ask that we have or I guess protocol for the police would be that the general area where it occurred would be locked down until we're done with our investigation and uh then once that is done the school board protocols would would kick in in terms of how they're going to deal with the the staff the students uh and the parents of the the students that go to that school you know the protol in place for school staff and students so you know what about the officers have respond to this terrible yeah honestly that's one of my major concerns because one of my officers was there unseen immediately and so um we do have protocols obviously within our service as well that are being kicked into to place right now to ensure that we look after their their mental well-being because this is not just another day at the office as you as you've alluded to and so yeah it's it the the mood in our office right now is is is is quite low and and there's some upset people um obviously because this this is not something that we ever expected um and could really prepare for can you talk how quick the response was like how chaotic was it obviously there's a school resource officer there handling one situation and then you guys kept this call how long did it take you guys to respond and can you speak for the other departments as well I I'm not sure my understanding is that fire Med especially fire were there very quickly um listening to the radio traffic our officer that was on scene was at the immediate area of the event within 30 seconds had someone in custody within 60 seconds and was stabilizing the scene um within moments so the response from our part was was immediate and the fire department was very close as was a fire hall not far off and they were there rendering Aid and then medavie came afterwards and and did what they do as well so the response was as quick as it possibly could have been I know but sit securitys for all schools you know until the facts are known it's very difficult to say what if anything would be changed obviously they'll be some discussions and after action but to say what could be done differently or could be changed um would be difficult to say without knowing fully what actually went on in this in the full circumstances and that could take you know weeks for all information to be gathered going forward is it up to like I guess how does this investigation get handled in terms of who's respons responsible for what does the school board kind of handle the status of the student that was impacted or students uh do you guys do that how how does that kind of unfold over the next uh little bit as people obviously will be very curious to see and learn what happened so the the Police Service SRO will be there the school resource officers will be there as a as a resource But ultimately the the school board will be the ones that will look after the the the mental well-being of their students and staff internally and then moving forward if there's a role for us that they ask that we are involved with we would definitely assist wherever we could does this event speak to the importance of having school resource officers like is that was the fact that one was already there imperative to the investigation and the action that was able to be taken I believe that this situation could have been much worse and could have been um more out of control if we hadn't have an officer there right away and the reason we're in the schools is to prevent and mitigate any kind of risk to Public Safety that we can have so it's tough for me to say how many we've prevented in the past I that's my hope is that this is a one-off that never occurs again but I can speak to you know anecdotally saying that having our officers present in the schools working collaboratively with the teachers the principls the school boards is definitely preventing violence not everything is obviously um preventable but you can imagine having uniform police officer come and restore some sort of order to a very chaotic scene within 30 seconds is going to be beneficial for everybody that's in that scene because everyone looks to the uniform to do something and he did exactly what we would expect him to do and he's very calm on the police radio and that's going to spread out throughout the school and I think just seeing somebody there in authority to assist them within seconds is uh extremely beneficial had police heard anything about this this student who is the suspect beforehand or have dealt with in the past that information I don't know is there a court dat for charges at that point um she is the suspect is in custody at this point I don't know what the charges are the way the investigation works is that the detectives in our serious assault unit will be interviewing Witnesses Gathering any evidence they could if there's video um that type of stuff they may in conjunction with the crown prosecutor find out what are the appropriate charges but at this point uh the suspect is in custody as the investigation unfolds they'll determine what the evidence tells them the proper charge would be any differ at all they're they're assessed sorry um so the youth criminal justice act would be the one that would obviously dictate how we handle this person um we are obviously allowed to keep the person in custody for up to 24 hours and at that point we have to make a decision whether or not we're going to charge them or release them um obviously the the rights that they have under the You Youth criminal justice act are somewhat different than than adults but in terms of how the investigation proceeds really it wouldn't be much difference it's Gathering the evidence the facts lead them to what they believe the criminal offense would be and they would lay the appropriate charges to talk about banning cell phones in schools are you able to talk about the importance of having a device like a cell phone on hand when it comes to reporting incidents like yeah so in a case like that we' rely on you know the staff and others that are around would would have their cell phones and in this case I don't know exactly who was able to make that uh phone call right away I believe that it was a was a staff member um I think maybe the benefits of not having that distracting students day in and day out versus being able to call for help remember that in a high school with numerous teachers there's always going to be someone an adult um or a person in Authority that would have access to phone or Communications so I mean we didn't have cell phones 25 years ago and everything seemed to work so um I never thought of that aspect of it but in this case I don't think it made a difference so what kind of protocol will be implemented after this incident just for the Peace of Mind of the parents well again I don't know because I don't know fully what the investigation is going to show you know and until they speak with Witnesses and talk about um all of the aspects of what happened and why it happened it'd be very difficult to say what if any changes would come from it did the officer have a body camera on him he didn't not and just one more time you just clarify if the other let the other on fire and what you know on yeah that's that is my understanding is what they responded to was that the suspect we have in custody started the other uh the victim on fire do we know how the fire was put out I believe it was put out by um the teacher and some other staff whether it was a fire extinguisher or whatever I I don't know I just know that they they they did extinguish it are good thank you thanks guys and girls