Durham police are looking for any information that will help them identify a suspect in connection with two separate public mischief incidents at Queen Elizabeth Public School.
They were called to the school near Simcoe St. N. and Beatrice St. E. on March 22 and 28 to investigate threatening graffiti, which was written within the same area of the school both times. Police won’t specify the nature of the threats, but they said both incidents were unfounded.
“We had our canine officers attend the school to assist with their dogs to try to locate any evidence of any threat in the school,” said Const. George Tudos of Durham police.
Officers said it is now safe for students to attend the school, but some parents have told Global News the incidents have scared them to the point that they have pulled their children out of class.
“Until there’s more information about it, I don’t think I should send her,” said Angel Willan, adding she isn’t sure when her six-year-old daughter, Alaksa, will return to the school.
“If I want to send my kid back to school, I think the student, or whoever is doing it, should be out of the school.”
Willan said she received phone calls and letters from the school, notifying her of the incidents, but Ken MacNaughton, Administrative Officer for Safe Schools at the Durham District School Board, said due to a glitch after the first incident, some parents did not receive the call right away.
“For some reason, the messaging didn’t get out to all parents in a timely fashion,” MacNaughton said. “Eventually, all parents… did get that message, but it was held up in an automated queue.”
Jessyka Newton, whose five-year-old daughter Elaina Leone attends the school, is pushing for the board to have security measures put in, such as people checking students’ backpacks.
Crystal Eickmeier, a parent of a grade five student, worries there could be more of these incidents.
“If they don’t catch who has done this, this could keep happening and then maybe, one day, this could really happen,” she said. “The school could be in some serious trouble.”
The DDSB said they are working with police to investigate, and they will monitor any incidents concerning the safety and security of its schools.
Any witnesses or anyone with information about these incidents is asked to call D/Cst. Grigoriou at 905-579-1520 ext. 2737 or D/Cst Hartry at ext. 2732 of the Central East Division Criminal Investigation Bureau at 1-888-579-1520 or Durham Regional Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477.
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