A 16-year-old Ottawa boy stands accused of making fake calls to emergency services across North America, including creating fear by making up bomb threats, police said Friday.

The boy, who lives in the west end of Ottawa, is the suspect in at least 30 North American incidents, said Staff Sgt. Rick Baldwin-Ooms.

Baldwin-Ooms said Friday that more charges were anticipated but that so far the boy had been charged with 60 offences, including uttering death threats, conveying false information with intent to alarm, public mischief and mischief to property.

“Swatting” is the term used by police to describe faking emergency calls to create a hoax or get revenge.

“This is a fairly new phenomenon for Ottawa,” said Baldwin-Ooms. “These irresponsible incidents have created real fear in people, put public safety at risk, and disrupted entire communities where these events have occurred.”

He said police will investigate whether any alleged hoax calls diverted responders away from real emergencies.

One of the alleged bomb threats happened April 30 just before 10:30 a.m. at Jean Vanier Catholic Secondary School in Milton, Ont., west of Toronto, said Halton Regional Police Sgt. Chantal Corner. She said an anonymous 911 caller said he had placed explosives near the school that he was going to detonate — creating eight hours of work for more than 30 officers, and prompting an evacuation and search of the three-storey school.

“The fear, I think, and the anxiety and that real uncomfortableness that some of these kids are feeling and may not be able to get over is something that could be very traumatizing,” said Corner, a public relations officer who was on Twitter that day, talking to some of the kids inside the school.

She said the tweets got the attention of other police services.

“Everybody made the connection that this is the same person that’s done this all over North America,” Corner said.

She said a Milton boy, who has now been charged with public mischief, had contacted the Ottawa boy with a request.

“I guess it’s gotten around that … if you want this done, you can call him,” Corner said.

The Ottawa boy, who can’t be identified under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, appeared in court on Friday. Because the matter is now before the courts, police can’t divulge how the case got their attention, the timeline of events, or many other details, Baldwin-Ooms said.

The boy’s lawyer, Joshua Clarke, said his client denies any wrong doing. “I look forward to receiving the evidence,” Clarke said in an email

Other police forces involved in the investigation were the Laval, Que., police, Sûreté du Québec, Calgary Police Service and the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The boy’s home has been searched and data transmission and communication devices were seized for analysis, police said. Firearms and ammunition were also seized for public safety reasons, police said.

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