By David Topping

Misinformation travels mighty fast these days. So when major news organizations around the city reported earlier today that there was word of one—or several—people with a gun in the Bickford Centre, a continuing education school on Bloor at Christie, and that police had swarmed the area, it was hard to separate what was really going on from what was alleged to be happening behind the building’s walls.
According to our own Matt Kim, in the area as media and police arrived, “there are at least fifteen police cruisers gathered at Bloor and Montrose, with more on the way from the sounds of it. No traffic is being allowed west of Christie, pedestrian or otherwise. Looks like media crew are setting up tripods. There’s some speculation, but a lot of uncertainty.” CityNews (whose article has since changed) initially reported that:

An adult learning centre in the city’s west end has been put on lockdown after reports that several people stormed the facility with guns.
The alleged incident took place at the Bickford Centre at 777 Bloor St. W. at Christie just before 11am.
The area has been blocked off as police investigate.
There have been unconfirmed reports that a student or students may be holding the principal at gunpoint.
Initial reports suggest the drama is unfolding on the fifth floor but police say they have no confirmation of anyone with a gun.

No confirmation would ever come: the whole lockdown was a drill, and the confusion the result of, according to the Post, “a student unaware of the drill [who] sent word a gunman was in the school.” One woman, lifted into an ambulance on a stretcher just after noon, was, according to CityNews, “in the late stages of a pregnancy,” the treatment “precautionary.” If nothing else, her kid will surely have one heck of a story to tell.
All photos by Nick Kozak/Torontoist.