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A student in Rivers, Man., says he is stunned the small community was the site of a high-profile arrest after police say a teenage boy was planning simultaneous school attacks with another youth in Nova Scotia.
“I was surprised. Didn’t really expect it. It’s a small town. You don’t really think of things like this happening in such a nice community,” said Cole Lelond, a Grade 11 student at Rivers Collegiate in the town of fewer than 1,000 people.
“It definitely worries me, now that I know things like that could happen in such a small community.”
Police in Bridgewater, N.S., said they were alerted by international police agency Interpol and the FBI about online communications between a 15-year-old girl in that town and a 14-year-old boy in Manitoba.
The pair were communicating about their desires to mount attacks at their local schools, Park View Education Centre and Rivers Collegiate, police said. Rivers Collegiate has fewer than 150 students in grades 7-12.
Investigators believe the teens were planning simultaneous attacks, Bridgewater police said in a news release Wednesday.
Manitoba RCMP said officers were also alerted to the alleged online activity by Interpol on Friday.
Police said the conversations started in mid-February, with the teen from Rivers “actively discussing and planning to harm other students at Rivers Collegiate,” a separate news release said Wednesday.
RCMP said the teen was arrested on a school bus during a traffic stop near Highway 250 on Monday morning. Police said he was unarmed and his phone and electronic devices were seized.
RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Melanie Roussel said arresting the boy on the bus was “the safest way for us to take him into custody, prior to him attending school.”
“We had received information prior that he was already on the school bus. We wish we could have arrested him at his residence, but that didn’t happen, so arresting him on the school bus was the safest and quickest way to put him in custody,” Roussel said.
Police searched two properties associated with the accused, seizing more electronic devices and two firearms owned by a relative, the release said.
Roussel said “the threat was not imminent” at the time the teen was arrested.
“We didn’t believe that something was going to happen that day, but we wanted to get him before the school week,” she said.
He was charged with uttering threats.
“Other charges may come in the future, depending on what the investigation leads us to. This is still an ongoing investigation,” Roussel said.
Jason Cline, the superintendent of Rolling River School Division, said officers went to the school after the arrest to gather more information for their investigation.
Cline said Rivers Collegiate is working alongside school division administration and clinical services to ensure supports are available for students and staff members.
Riverdale Municipality Mayor Heather Lamb said in a statement to CBC News that local officials are focused on supporting the community, encouraging families to check in with their children and each other.
“Whenever a situation involves young people, schools, and safety, it touches the very heart of who we are as a municipality. Our thoughts are with everyone who may be feeling anxious or uncertain, including students, families, educators, and staff,” Lamb wrote.
Rivers resident Renee Favron, whose son attends elementary school, said the news had her feeling on edge.
“It was shocking, especially having a child that takes the school bus as well,” Favron said.
She said many parents have been processing the severity of the situation since the school board notified them earlier this week.
“I think it’s going to take some time for people to really process the severity of the what-ifs, and that’s always going to be something in the back of everybody’s heads,” she said.
“I’m very grateful that the situation was resolved, obviously, before anything could happen. So, I’m super-grateful for all of that. But, I mean, there’s always that part of you that it hits close to home, and it’s a scary thought to think of, no matter where you live.”
Interpol and the FBI tipped off Canadian authorities that teens from Nova Scotia and Manitoba had been planning violent attacks at their schools. Manitoba RCMP arrested a youth on a school bus travelling to Rivers Collegiate near Brandon.
