When 14-year-old Simon Chamberland saw several Grade 6 students running down the school hallway, crying and screaming with blood dripping down their faces, he thought a gunman was on the loose.
He next heard a panicked secretary at Racette Junior High School announce over the intercom that the building was in lockdown mode.
All the teens in his gym class ran for the girls' change room and hid in the corner of the showers.
Only later did Chamberland realize the chaos Thursday morning was caused by a minivan that had crashed through an outside wall and into a classroom.
Mounties said three students were pinned under the van at the Catholic school in St. Paul.
They were airlifted to a hospital in Edmonton, 200 kilometres to the east, with critical injuries.
Health officials said one of the wounded is an 11-year-old girl.
Five others were transported by ambulance to the local hospital, but they were released later in the day.
RCMP said the van's driver, a 46-year-old man from St. Paul, received minor injuries and was taken into custody. Photos from the scene show him being led away in handcuffs.
Spokeswoman Doris Stapleton said investigators are trying to determine the cause of the crash, which could include impairment by drugs or alcohol, mechanical failure, slippery road conditions and the driver's medical health.
"The results of this ongoing investigation will determine when and if charges are applicable."
Glen Brodziak, superintendent of St. Paul Education, said the school was evacuated and students were transported to other schools.
But Chamberland said he and the other students in his first-period gym class spent 90 minutes hiding in the change room before a teacher came to get them.
"They evacuated all the other students to the regional high school and we were still there ... They forgot us.
"We didn't know what was going on at all."
