A 15-year-old Cochrane teen has been charged for threatening students at Cochrane High School via social media.
Cochrane RCMP visited all three Cochrane high schools on Monday after the threats were made on Snapchat over the weekend.
The RCMP received a complaint June 3 that the 15-year-old accused had posted a picture of himself with ammunition, accompanied by a caption that warned students not to attend Cochrane High School on June 6. Images posted to Snapchat are removed from the site automatically after 24 hours.
The schools were informed about the situation on Monday between 7 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. The threat was determined to have “low credibility.”
Bow Valley High School had a meeting with the students to explain the situation and carried on with the school day; St. Timothy High School waited until all the students arrived and locked the doors, keeping everyone inside for the school day to “err on the side of caution” but the school was not on an official lockdown, according to Principal Steven Petingola; Cochrane High School’s principal could not be reached for a comment.
“Given the present day sensitivity, mass shootings are at the forefront of everyone’s minds and law enforcement needs to take this serious,” said Sgt. Jeff Campbell with the Cochrane RCMP.
“This is not a joke, maybe 30 years ago we could have brushed it off but now you can’t.”
Police identified the youth, who was subsequently arrested and charged. He has since been released to parental custody under strict conditions. The youth is restricted from having any contact with firearms or ammunition, and he may only use his personal computer for school purposes until the end of the school year on June 23.
RCMP said the youth and family are being “very co-operative.”
The RCMP is aware that the posting has resulted in speculative social media comments about the safety of students at all Cochrane high Schools. The police have no information to indicate that anyone other than the accused was involved in this incident.
“Unfortunately it is very typically to get these type of threats around this time but the police visited the schools and the staff (were) aware of the situation and there (was) no threat to the public,” Campbell said.
The youth will appear in Cochrane Provincial Court on June 14.
