The Cornwall Community Hospital in Cornwall, Ont., was placed on lockdown Tuesday and several schools were under a hold-and-secure order as police searched for a man they suspected of carrying a rifle.

Police determined that the weapon was a pellet gun, after finding pellets in an area the suspect had been seen.

"To the regular member of the public they look very, very similar — and from a distance you would not be able to tell," said Staff Sgt. Chad Maxwell.

The suspect has not been found but police said there is no longer a concern for public safety. The lockdown ended just before 4 p.m. Tuesday, Cornwall police said.

The man and what was initially reported as a possible rifle were first seen in the area of Amelia and Seventh streets shortly before 9 a.m., police said.

School busses cancelled

The sighting prompted Cornwall Collegiate Vocational School go go into lockdown before later switching to a hold-and-secure order, according to the school's Facebook page. Other schools in the area also were under a hold-and-secure order, a condition when there's a threat in the general vicinity of a school, but not necessarily on school property.

All school buses within the city were also cancelled, forcing parents to go to school to pick up their children.

#383 - UPDATE – 3:00 PM<br><br>Please be advised all buses for schools within the City of Cornwall have been cancelled. Parents are advised to attend their child’s school to pick them up. —@CCPSmedia

But Brooke Garlow, a mother of three school children, said she wasn't informed by school staff about what was going on.

"I had no idea where my children were," she said after they failed to come home.

She didn't learn about the investigation until her son texted her to say she would have to pick them up from school.

"We should have been contacted immediately," she said.

"I understand there's a lot of kids at every school but they had all day to contact parents and let the parents know what was transpiring."

Maxwell said the decision to cancel the school buses were made in conjunction with the school board, and that they wanted to err on the side of caution.

Police are still searching for the suspect.