Richmond RCMP arrested a youth after police were alerted to alleged online threats for a school shooting targeting a local school.
The Richmond school district contacted police on Saturday (Oct. 19) after posts were shared online about a shooting at a specified school allegedly planned for Monday, Richmond RCMP said in a news release Tuesday.
RCMP said officers worked with the school district staff on the investigation, and on Monday were able to identify and arrest a youth suspect. Based on the information gathered, "there is nothing to indicate this threat was being followed through on."
Police said there is no further threat or concern for safety.
Richmond RCMP Insp. Michael Cohee said this type of threat is extremely serious "and we want to assure the public we took every measure possible to identify the suspect as swiftly as possible."
“We recognize this type of threat can cause concern in our community. We want to stress that in addition to gathering investigative evidence, our officers were continually conducting risk assessments and putting measures in place to ensure the safety and security of our community.”
RCMP said that as part of the risk assessment, officers "provided visible presence at the school throughout the day" on Monday.
