Parents unimpressed with school board response to reported threats at Metro Vancouver schools
Editor’s note: a previous version of this story stated the hold-and-secure measures had been lifted for all schools. However, we have received conflicting reports and have reached out to police to clarify.
Parents of students whose Metro Vancouver schools were put on hold-and-secure after reported threats Wednesday afternoon say they are unimpressed with the school board’s response.
The threats at the schools — which included Centennial Secondary in Coquitlam and Glenayre Elementary in Port Moody — were later discounted.
However, it isn’t clear whether the hold-and-secure measures have been lifted at all schools. We have reached out to police to clarify.
Shaun Driver is one of the parents unhappy with communication from the school board. He says his six-year-old son goes to Glenayre and takes issue with how vague information from School District 43 was.
He says he received an initial email about the incident around 1:30 p.m.
“I read the first [email], and yes, that’s a bit of a panic, and there was anger, but then the second message had come through,” Driver said.
“It gave a little bit more context, but I’m inferring from this information what’s really going on. I’m having to dissect and interpret words, and I just think that is absolutely unacceptable.”
Police investigating threats, taking issue seriously
Police say every measure is being taken to identify the origins of these threats.
Insp. Veronica Fox with the Coquitlam RCMP says they took the threats very seriously and are trying to identify any connections between calls made to schools in both Coquitlam and neighbouring Port Coquitlam.
She says the threats were made by phone, but they were found to be not credible.
When asked if the threats were a type of swatting, referring to calls to police to set off a response to fake threats, Fox says they are still trying to identify where the calls came from.
Police in Port Moody say they are investigating a similar incident at an elementary school, which was also placed on a hold and secure.
Fox says the threats have led to fears about public safety.
— With files from The Canadian Press and David Nadalini
