Hamilton police say they have arrested a 14-year-old girl after a warning message was written earlier this week about a shooting on the walls of St. Paul’s Catholic High School. Jean de Brébeuf.
East Mountain High School is one of several schools in Hamilton that have received similar threats following the murder of 19 students and two teachers at a Texas elementary school on May 24th.
Due to threats written on the bathroom wall on Wednesday, Westdale High School closes Friday as a precaution.
Since last Friday, threatening notes have been reported warning of school shootings at nine schools in Hamilton, five of them on Thursday. Threats were reported to four additional schools between May 27 and June 1.
In all, there have been threats to seven local high schools and two primary schools:
- Westdale High School;
- Hillcrest Elementary School;
- St. Paul’s Catholic High School Jean de Brebeuf;
- St. Paul’s Catholic High School Thomas More;
- St. Paul’s Catholic High School John Henry Newman;
- Sir Winton Churchill High School;
- Cootes Paradise Elementary School;
- and Bishop Ryan Catholic High School.
Police said Thursday the threats “are similar and involve written messages inside school buildings.” All of them were written somewhere in the schools, several on the walls of the bathrooms.
Most warned of the shootings, but a threat to St. Paul’s Catholic High School. Thomas More was on a bomb.
In an email to parents, principal Brian Daly said staff “discovered a message in the toilet of some children threatening an attack on the school on June 3.”
At least one other, the first message reported to Bishop Tonnos, shared the same date.
“These threats are not just innocent threats written on the bathroom wall. They cause panic and real discomfort with people and alarm,” police spokeswoman Jackie Penman told The Spectator. “We take these things very seriously and will charge if necessary.”
The 14-year-old student has been charged with ailment. Police say they expect more arrests in the coming days.
Police on Thursday held briefings for parents at Bishop Tonnos and St. Jean de Brébeuf.
“We’re looking at people of interest,” const. Krista-Lee Ernst told St Jean de Brébeuf’s parents. “There are research techniques we are analyzing. They are written messages and part of an investigation is looking at handwriting.”
This is not an isolated incident, he said, reading several other threats:
“The school is firing here,” he said, reading “word for word” the first message found to Bishop Tonnos.
The second, he said, read, “You think I’m kidding. I’m shooting the school when you don’t expect it.”
How common are school threats?
Hamilton Catholic School Board has dealt with 18 threats in six years, half of them during the current school year:
- 2021-22: five shots, a bomb and three “unspecified nature” (eight graffiti, one reported).
- 2019-20: two threats “unspecified nature”.
- 2018-19: a threat “unknown nature” (through social media).
- 2017-18: one shooting, two bombs (all by phone).
- 2016-17: a threat “nature unknown” (verbal).
Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District School Board spokeswoman Marnie Jadon said there could be two to four in a normal year.
The public board says it is not monitoring the threats.
“We don’t have a consistent way to identify these events,” Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board spokesman Shawn McKillop said in an email.
At both meetings, the protocol must be followed when there is a security threat.
The police are alerted – and the liaison officer to the Catholic board. Depending on the situation, the school may be closed or placed in a safe place. Families are also warned.
Students and staff are also prepared for emergencies through drills. The public board conducts a detention exercise, a shelter on site and two drill drills each year.
Child psychiatrist Jean Clinton said the pattern should not be shrugged to act.
“We need to think about our children’s behavior as a barometer of society’s health,” he said.
Clinton said “absolutely” there is a correlation between the series of threats in Hamilton schools and the recent mass shootings in the US
“We haven’t been able to make our kids feel safe in the world,” he said. “When that happens … you have these extreme behaviors in some kids, not all.”
Clinton said these are symptoms of a social disease aggravated by the fear and isolation of the pandemic.
“This is a wake-up call,” he said.
Editor’s Note: This story was updated on June 3, 2022 to reflect that Jean Clinton is a child psychiatrist, not a child psychologist as originally reported.
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