B.C. teacher should have known model rifle could cause ‘fear and panic’ at school, commissioner says

A handout image from the Vancouver Police Department shows the model rifle that prompted three schools to go on lockdown on Dec. 21, 2023.

A high school teacher who brought a model rifle to work in Vancouver’s Point Grey neighbourhood — leading to a tense police incident on school grounds — has been disciplined with a three-week suspension.

Christopher Jay Leveille was teaching at Lord Byng Secondary when the incident unfolded on Dec. 21, 2023. He’s since retired but still has a valid teaching certificate, which will be suspended from Nov. 1 to 23.

Leveille arrived at school that morning carrying a model firearm with a wood stock and metal barrel, according to a consent agreement he signed with B.C.’s commissioner for teacher regulation.

“It had the appearance of a vintage rifle,” the agreement reads. “Leveille says he intended to use the model to demonstrate warfare strategies in the 1700s in a Social Studies 9 class.”

Someone spotted Leveille with the model and called 911, triggering a significant police response. Three schools in the area were placed on lockdown as officers worked to confirm whether there was a legitimate threat.

They eventually found Leveille and the model, which police at the time suggested was real but likely too old to be operational.

Speaking to reporters after the lockdown was lifted, Const. Jason Doucette of the Vancouver Police Department said the teacher was unaware his actions had caused the emergency response when officers found him.

“He was apologetic, and I’m very confident we’re not going to see this again,” Doucette said. “There was no criminal intent at all.”

The consent agreement notes the incident not only impacted students and staff, but also transit service in the neighborhood.

Factors that commissioner Donnaree Nygard considered in deciding on Leveille’s three-week suspension included that he “acted contrary to his responsibility as a role model for students” and “created a situation which he should have known could create fear and panic,” according to the agreement.