When Emilee Staffel tried to drop off her eight-year-old son at Kew Beach Junior Public School after a dentist appointment Thursday, she found the doors locked.
Then she and a few other parents outside the school looked up to find a news helicopter overhead.
"[The locked doors were] something to keep our kids safe and not just something going on in our school," said Ms. Staffel, who is a co-chair of the school's parent council. "It was to keep someone from getting in."
That someone was Nicholas Dillion-Jack, an 18-year-old suspect in a stabbing. A police search for him led to more than a dozen schools in Toronto's east end being put into hold-and-secure mode.
The search for a man police considered "armed and dangerous" came less than a week after a shooting in the crowded food court of the Eaton Centre, and had parents concerned about the safety of their kids. Published reports late Thursday said Mr. Dillion-Jack is suspected of having a connection to the Sic Thugs, the gang allegedly affiliated with the fatal mall shooting.
On Thursday, the major police operation was launched after officers spotted the suspect on the street, in the Woodbine area, and chased him on foot but lost him, said Constable Tony Vella. Mr. Dillion-Jack is wanted for a downtown stabbing and for firearms-related charges in the east end.
As of late Thursday, Mr. Dillion-Jack was still at large.
School staff decided that 15 institutions in Scarborough and the Beaches should enter into hold-and-secure mode as several local streets were cordoned off. Unlike lockdown situations, where there is a direct threat to students, in hold-and-secure the school buildings are locked but activities inside proceed normally because there is no imminent danger.
"There is police activity in a neighbouring area. The children are safely in their classrooms and we will be having indoor recess," said one notice e-mailed to parents.
A perimeter was set up in the area but was lifted by about 2:15 p.m. when it was clear Mr. Dillion-Jack was no longer in the area. Shortly after, the Toronto District School Board said its schools would return to normal.
According to a notice Toronto police issued two weeks ago Mr. Dillion-Jack, of no fixed address, is wanted in connection with the May 23 stabbing of a man during an altercation at the downtown St. Stephen's Community House.
The victim was wounded in the chest and suffered life-threatening injuries.
Liisa Keevalik, who has two daughters at Courcelette Public School, said she heard the news while working in her office but didn't know for sure that Courcelette was one of the affected schools until she returned home. The nanny who looks after children told her the kids had been sent home with a letter explaining what happened, Ms. Keevalik said.
She said the incident didn't worry her or her children but reinforced that even the family-friendly area isn't shielded from violence.
"We're a very friendly neighbourhood but things can happen," she said. "It doesn't matter what area you live in, anybody can be a potential victim."