At least six Alberta schools closed Friday due to threats

EDMONTON - At least half a dozen schools across Alberta remain closed Friday because of threats, some of which were made on social media.

On Friday, Ponoka RCMP say the Wolf Creek School Board told them about alleged threats involving a student at the Ponoka Composite High School.

Schools in Ponoka activated their lock down procedures while steps were taken to locate the student. RCMP personnel were dispatched to area schools as a precaution.

A 17-year-old boy was located at his home in Ponoka. Firearms and ammunition were found in his possession, including both .22 caliber and a high powered rifle. The 17-year-old was arrested without incident.

RCMP say charges are pending against the youth for Uttering Threats, Unsafe Storage of Firearms and Possession of Weapons Dangerous to Public Peace.

A school in Devon remains closed Friday, after a threat was made against the school on a social media website. However, RCMP have investigated and say the threat does not cause any risk to the public's safety.

Students at Holy Spirit Catholic School were sent home with a letter Thursday afternoon, stating it had come to the school board's attention "that a former student of Holy Spirit Catholic School issued a threat on Facebook."

"I first heard about it yesterday morning," says Dr. Cindi Vaselenak, the Superintendent of Evergreen Catholic Separate Regional Division, Friday.

"The principal of Holy Spirit school in Devon - we have one school in Devon - contacted me indicating that the RCMP had called principals in Devon from various schools to a meeting to inform them of a threat targeted at schools that a student had made. The RCMP had called the principal in to brief them on the information the RCMP had had. The principal informed me that it had been a former student at that particular school, Holy Spirit school in Devon."

Vaselenak says she spent most of the day Thursday on the phone with RCMP and the Superintendent of Black Gold public school system.

"Because this is a former student, I have access to information and so, found out what I could about the student, how long they had been at the school and so on."

"As the day progressed yesterday, the information that a threat had been issued on Facebook and the threat directed at a school, it gained momentum throughout the day," explains Vaselenak. "So, teachers and students were receiving information in the school while the school is on. So, we're getting anxious in some respects, or just wanting more information."

"When you're dealing with things like that, when outside information is coming and you can't control the nature or the information - some of which was probably incorrect - and we can't get a definitive answer from RCMP because they're in the process of an investigation, so they can't tell us all the information," adds Vaselenak.

"Ultimately, I have to decide, and act on what I think is in the best interest of the students and staff in my jurisdiction from the information that I know."

Holy Spirit school was closed Friday, and the Christmas concert, scheduled for Thursday evening, was also cancelled.

"We started to get calls from parents saying I don't want my child in the Christmas concert tonight. So a lot of the decision last night about the Christmas concert was that a lot of the cast wasn't going to be there. So the school decided, you know... we can do it at the beginning of January, where everyone's going to feel comfortable to participate."

RCMP say the comment, which was posted on Wednesday, stated that children from a school would be hurt, but no specific school was named.

Officers were able to track down the person who made the comment- a youth who lives in Devon. Officers searched the young person's home and say the youth did not have access to any firearms and there is no indication that this person was going to follow through on the threat. The youth is now under adult supervision.

School officials say the safety of their staff and students is their number one priority, and threats will not be taken lightly.

A letter explaining the situation and the decision to close the school Friday was sent home with students Thursday. It read:

"There is heightened anxiety around student safety at schools due to the circumstances that occurred in the United States last week. In light of this, and as an additional precaution, we are postponing the Christmas concert scheduled for (Thursday night) as well as closing the school tomorrow, Friday, December 21."

RCMP are continuing to investigate however, officers want to reassure residents that at no point was the safety of the students and staff at the school in jeopardy.

"I don't want to make this story bigger than it needs to be," explains Vaselenak.

"We acted for one school in our division; a cautionary approach that we took, but teachers will always be reviewing lock-down procedures and I think teachers in our district can expect that some kids are going to have some questions when they come back at the end of Christmas break."

Students will be back in class on Monday, January 7.

Vaselenak adds that social media has created another layer of communication schools and law officials need to monitor.

"Social media has created a whole different dimension on how we receive information. So, when threats are made publicly on social media, we have to take those threats very seriously, and I know the RCMP take it equally seriously."

Edmonton Police Chief Rod Knecht says monitoring social media and handling threats and dangers online is something EPS already does.

"Absolutely and we do that now. But we know that's a massive world out there and we really look to the public - parents, teachers, principals - we look to those folks to tell us when they see the strange behaviour, the difficult behaviour, and make us aware of that," says Knecht.

"We do have school resource officers in a number of schools. One of the things I would like to do in 2013 is, when our people have downtime to do paperwork, rather than come back to the police station, I'm looking to meet with public and private school boards and the city and have our people just stop in and do our paperwork in the schools," he adds.

"It raises the profile, our people get to interact with students, meet them on a positive basis and set up some relationships and have those discussions with students and principals and teachers."

Two Rocky Mountain House high schools were also shut Friday due to a “potentially threatening situation,” Wild Rose Public Schools and Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools announced in a news release.

As RCMP worked to verify the credibility of the threat, officers said closing West Central High School and St. Dominic Catholic High School was the most appropriate decision “given the gravity of recent events.”

Rocky Mountain House RCMP say their detachment was notified Thursday about a possible threat of violence that may occur at the West Central High School in Rocky Mountain House.

Police immediately began an investigation into the threat and school officials were notified.

RCMP say a youth was identified as the source of the threat, and an investigation revealed that there was no direct threat to cause harm to any student, teacher or towards the school. It is believed the comments made by the youth were construed over the course of a couple days.

Officers say, although the allegation appears unfounded, the investigation is continuing. The RCMP want to assure parents, students and staff that at no time was their safety at risk.

Crescent Heights High School in Medicine Hat was also closed Friday for the same reason.
In a news release, the Medicine Hat Police Service explained the school closure.

"In light of the recent events in Newtown, Connecticut, it is imperative that schools and police be sensitive to secondary events that can occur during the critical time that follows high profile events," read the statement from Sgt. Harley Kesler.

Police say on Thursday, a student at Crescent Heights High School overheard other students talking about school violence. As a result, the student reported his concern to a parent who appropriately contacted the Medicine Hat Police Service.

"In this instance, a collaborative and multi-disciplinary threat assessment protocol was activated. As a precaution, the decision was made to close Crescent Heights High School. This was done after consultation with an expert in the field of threat assessment and trauma response," the news release adds.

"The Medicine Hat Police Service investigated the information received that resulted in the closure and have learned that the risk was low; as the threat was vague and indirect, the information was inconsistent, and lacked detail.
No weapons were brought to the school by any perpetrators."

With files from the Edmonton Journal