Winnipeg police arrested two teens and an adult woman in connection with three of the nearly a dozen threats made to city schools over a two-week span this month.
A 30-year-old woman from Toronto and two teens, ages 13 and 16, face charges of uttering threats in connection with three of the 11 “hoax calls” targeting schools in Winnipeg, Staff Sgt. Shaun Venn said at a Wednesday news conference.
The other incidents are still under investigation, police said.
“None of these specific threats were credible, [but] the impact that they’ve had … is very real, and the consequences for those responsible even more so,” Venn said.
“It’s not a joke. It’s not funny. They are very serious criminal offences.”
Despite the fact that none of the incidents reported between Feb. 3 and 19 proved to be legitimate threats, Venn said police “don’t have the luxury of assuming it’s a prank.”
Police put out a social media video on Tuesday confirming the department has received reports about several threats to schools recently.
The latest reported instance of a threat led Windsor Park Collegiate to cancel classes today. The division told families a threat to the school last week specifically made reference to Feb. 25.
It’s the latest closure over a threat in February, a month that also saw one of the deadliest mass shootings in Canadian history in B.C. Eight people died in the Feb. 10 shooting in Tumbler Ridge, including multiple children and an educator.
On Feb. 17, hundreds of students didn’t show up for class at Garden City Collegiate over a shooting threat days earlier, despite police finding the threat to be unfounded.
A shooting threat posted on Facebook forced St. John’s High School to cancel classes on Feb. 9, and Bernie Wolfe School was evacuated on Feb. 4 after a threat.
