One Wednesday, Dec. 5, three secondary schools in Kingston received phone calls from a person threatening to go to the schools with a weapon and the intent to do harm. The threats started at 9:30 a.m. to Regiopolis-Notre Dame Catholic High School, 11:00 a.m. to Bayridge Secondary School, and 1:00 p.m. to Holy Cross Catholic Secondary School. In all three incidents the schools were secured, searched and nothing was found.

KINGSTON –Five Kingston schools were put into lockdown on Wednesday after threats of explosives were made to three secondary schools over the phone.

The first school to receive a threat was Regiopolis-Notre Dame Catholic High School at about 9:30 a.m. The school contacted Kingston Police and went into lockdown.

“Our priority right now is the safety of staff and students,” Algonquin and Lakeshore Catholic District School Board communications officers Jessica Salmon said at the time.

Lockdown is when there is a potential threat inside the school. All exterior and interior doors are locked and students remain in their classrooms. Kingston Police officers on patrol as well as the emergency response team and the canine unit attended.

“[Officers] secured the school, searched the school and at 11 a.m. we received a second threat to Bayridge Secondary [School]. We attended that school as well, leaving some officers in place at Regiopolis,” Sgt. Jay Finn said at the Russell Street school.

Bayridge was also placed in a lockdown as police secured and searched the school. Ontario Provincial Police also attended, parking near the exterior of the property as Kingston Police units eventually left.

“We don’t believe there is any imminent threat at this point at either school,” Finn said. “We’re further investigating where the threat originated from.”

Then at about 1 p.m., Holy Cross Catholic Secondary School and Mother Teresa Catholic School also received a phone call threatening them. The school board placed the schools in an immediate lockdown.

“All students and staff remain safe. Holy Cross is working with Kingston Police,” the catholic school board tweeted.

In all three instances, police found nothing. The threats had included the use of weapons and explosives, Finn said. A news release from Kingston Police said that the caller indicated they were planning to go to the schools with weapons to do harm.

A Twitter account took credit for the lockdowns, posting updates throughout the day. The account urged people to follow them for updates, and more than 530 users did. Finn said they are investigating the Twitter account.

“We’re looking into all the possibilities,” Finn said. “Maybe someone is trying to take credit for something they didn’t do, but we’re investigating that avenue.”

By the afternoon, five schools in total had been placed in lockdowns, but then moved to hold and secures until students were dismissed at the end of the school day. In addition to Bayridge, the Limestone District School Board placed Lancaster Drive Public School in a lockdown until it, too, was downgraded.

A hold and secure is when the exterior doors to the school are locked but normal activities continue inside.

In light of the stressful events, both school boards agreed to cancel extracurricular activities scheduled for Wednesday evening.

Police said the investigation is ongoing and anyone with information is asked to contact Finn at 613-549-4660, ext. 6228, or via email at jfinn@kingstonpolice.ca. Information can be provided anonymously by calling 613-549-4660 and asking to be anonymous, or by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

scrosier@postmedia.com

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