Montreal police want the public's help after a man tried to kidnap a 12-year-old boy in Pointe-Claire on Tuesday.

The boy, a student at St. Thomas High School, had just been dropped off by his school bus around 3 p.m. at St. Louis and Marsh, which is near des Sources north of Highway 20.

Lester B. Pearson Director General Bob Mills describes the scene.

"From what I've been told, what happened was the person in the van yelled out the window, 'Get in the car', at the same time grabbing the student's arm and opening the side of the door.

"The student was able to struggle and get away and went immediately home and informed his parents," said Mills.

Nervous parents

Officials at St. Thomas sent out a letter to parents Tuesday alerting them to the abduction attempt.

"All schools in the proximity of St. Thomas High School will be notified in order to heighten awareness," said the letter.

"We wish to assure the parent community that the police have been handling this case with all due diligence, and they are providing a strong police presence as they continue the investigation."

The school suggested that parents provide safety tips to their children and they're ordering teachers to do the same.

One girl at St. Thomas said the incident made her, and her mother nervous.

"It scared me personally because anything can happen when you're walking by yourself," said the girl.

Her mother was too nervous to let her walk back and forth from school.

"She actually asked my neighbour to drive me in this morning."

Counselling

St. Thomas Principal Chris Cyr said that school staff will pay special attention to the boy who reported the incident.

"He did meet with the guidance counsellors a couple of times yesterday during the day," said Cyr.

"He has very reassuring teachers, so the teachers certainly didn't go up to him, but they were receptive if he wanted to talk to them."

Additional details

Police came to the school and interviewed people in the residential neighbourhood.

Commander Jacquelin St-Pierre said that police will continue to work the case.

"We have put many investigators on this case, and it's a priority for us to arrest this person," said St-Pierre.

The man in the red van is also said to have had two days of stubble and two teeth missing on the right upper side of his jaw.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Info-Crime hotline at 514-393-1133.