One day after the Lord Sekirk School Division closed all of its 15 schools due to threats on social media, more possible threats and concerns had police investigating once again.
RCMP say threats appeared in a text message and on social media and talked about shooting people.
Police investigated and said the threats were unsubstantiated.
The division said because they didn’t mention any specific school, it decided to put all 15 schools into hold and secure.
Kelly Gislason picked up her son, a first-grade student, after seeing all 15 schools in the division had been placed in hold and secure.
It happened just before 11:30 a.m.
“Quite frightening,” she said. “I’m not sending my kid to school for the rest of the week.”
RCMP Insp. Al Hafland said one of the threats was presented to a school principal.
“Essentially it was a reiteration of the first threats that indicated that someone was going to come to the school, shoot at the school, but when we looked there was so much layered information,” he said.
Police say the threats were deemed unsubstantiated.
The hold and secure lifted just after 1 p.m.
It was a situation that rattled some students.
“It’s been pretty chaotic I think going to school today was not the smartest choice,” said grade 11 student Raymond Hefferman.
The division said it has about 3900 students.
With many parents worried, it allowed them to pick up their kids.
“The perimeter of the doors are all locked down. Kids are safe there,” said Michele Polinuk, Lord Selkirk School Division Superintendent.
Police said two teens have been charged with uttering threats and remanded into custody in connection with the posts from Dec. 2.
A third teen arrested was released.
Police said no further arrests have been made in connection to the concerns Tuesday.
“The RCMP reminds everyone that these types of online threats are taken very seriously and charges will be pursued against anyone participating in this type of online activity,” said Sgt. Paul Manaigre of the Manitoba RCMP.
“We ask that students and residents in Selkirk only share facts from trusted sources such as the school district, police or city officials. Many people are experiencing fear and uncertainty over these incidents and the spreading of false information and rumours is not helpful,” Manaigre said.
