St. Laurent Centre temporarily evacuated due to 'potential incident', mall says

A sign on the door of St. Laurent Centre says the shopping mall in Ottawa's east end would remain closed until 12:30 p.m. on Friday. (Jackie Perez/CTV News Ottawa)

St. Laurent Centre reopened for shopping Friday afternoon after the mall in Ottawa's east end was closed for three hours due to a "potential incident."

The mall on St. Laurent Boulevard was closed between 9:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. on Friday.

Ottawa police said on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, that "The St. Laurent Shopping Centre requested OPS assistance to evacuate the mall for safety reasons." No other information was released.

A sign on the door to the St. Laurent Centre said the mall would be closed until 12:30 p.m.

The general manager of St. Laurent Centre tells CTV News Ottawa there was a "potential incident on the property" Friday morning.

"As part of our standard operating procedure, the mall was temporarily evacuated. There were no concerns, and we return to normal business," Amy Rozario said in an email.

"We thank our guests and retailers for their understanding during this short interruption to business."