Pigeon poacher with an air rifle creates high alert at Etobicoke schools

Here's a useful tip: If you're going to scare pigeons away, don't do it with an air rifle.

Etienne Brule Junior Public School and St. Mark Catholic School in Etobicoke, Ontario were put into lockdown mode Thursday when a man wielding a rifle was spotted on the roof of a nearby apartment building.

A passerby spotted the man shortly after 9 a.m. and immediately called police, who put the schools in a hold-and-secure situation. The exterior doors were bolted shut until police gave the all-clear.

The weapon turned out to be an air rifle, and the shooter was simply a 54-year-old man who wanted to get rid of the pigeons that had been roosting on his building. He said he was trying to scare the birds by shooting at the roof's flashing.

It's the second time since the school year began three days ago that a Toronto-area school has been placed in a hold-and-secure situation. On Tuesday, Cardinal Leger Catholic Secondary School was locked down after a student was stabbed.

The lesson in this is simple: If you need to scare away pigeons, use a broom, not a gun.

[ More Daily Brew: 'Diefenbaby' believes he can finally prove he's the former PM's son ]