What is believed to be fake bomb and shooting threats were made against several northside schools and a hospital in central Edmonton Wednesday, sending schools into lockdowns or alerts and tying up police resources.
In total, six schools were affected, although only four of them received the actual bomb and firearm threat, which came in the form of a phone call between noon and 1 p.m., police said.
Threats were made to St. Edmund Catholic Elementary/Junior High School and Calder School near 118 Street and 130 Avenue in northwest Edmonton’s Calder area.
Threats were also called into St. Philip Catholic Elementary School and Cardinal Leger Catholic Junior High School near 144 Avenue and 87 Street in northeast Edmonton’s Evansdale neighbourhood.
Dickensfield School and Northmount School, located kitty-corner from St. Philip and Cardinal Leger, were put on alert due to their proximity to the schools that received actual threats.
Edmonton Catholic Schools said St. Philip was briefly placed on lockdown, but that school was primarily on-alert Wednesday afternoon.
The other two Catholic schools were just on-alert the entire time.
“We followed the direction of the Edmonton Police Service while they investigated the calls,” Edmonton Catholic School Board spokesperson Christine Meadows said.
“Students and staff were safe at all times and we remained on-alert until it was lifted by EPS. We will always take whatever precaution is necessary to ensure the safety of our students and staff.”
Edmonton Public Schools confirmed three of its schools also went into lockdown or on alert.
Lockdowns happen when there is an immediate threat to the school, and an alert is enacted when the threat is outside the building.
Spokesperson Kim Smith said Calder and Dickensfield were initially placed on lockdown and then downgraded to an alert.
“When a school is in lockdown, the doors are locked and students and staff remain quiet in their classrooms with the lights off. While on alert, the exterior doors are closed and no one is allowed to enter or exit the building, but classes continue as normal,” Smith said.
Edmonton police said the Royal Alexandra Hospital also received similar threats by phone.
The threats appear to be unsubstantiated and are being investigated as swatting incident, police said. There is currently no threat to public safety.
Swatting is the illegal practice of reporting false crimes to deceive emergency services and harass innocent people, intended to provoke the deployment of an emergency response team — colloquially known as a SWAT (special weapons and tactics). In Edmonton, such teams are called tactical units.
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