15-year-old charged after Peace River school allegedly threatened online

A 15-year-old boy was arrested and charged after alleged threats to a Catholic junior and senior high school in northwestern Alberta were posted to social media.

On Saturday, RCMP in Peace River received a complaint of threats that were posted online, which Mounties said were “of concern to the safety of staff and students at the Glenmary School.”

READ MORE: How social media is a help and a hindrance to fighting crime

Two days before the alleged incident, the local superintendent put out a letter about the consequences of posting threats online, as part of Digital Citizenship Week.

Get daily National news

Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.

Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up

By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Holy Family Catholic Regional Division superintendent Betty Turpin said online posts about harming others are taken very seriously.

“These situations are on the rise so I personally feel communicating these consequences to everyone in our school communities is important to do our part in preventing these situations from happening,” Turpin wrote last week.

READ MORE: Online threats and swatting calls —  who are the people police watch online?

RCMP said they investigated and identified the suspect. A 15-year-old from Peace River, who police said is not a student at the school, was arrested and is facing charges of uttering threats.

Mounties said there is currently no threat to Glenmary and all schools in Peace River are open.

RCMP said threats of any nature are taken seriously and safety of staff and students at local schools is a priority.

Since the 15-year-old is underage, he cannot be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act and police said no further details would be provided.

READ MORE: Nanaimo 15-year-old arrested after allegedly posting online threats

Peace River is about 500 kilometres northwest of Edmonton.