Alberta RCMP officials are urging calm after a night of furious social media chatter erupted among parents of students in the Lac La Biche area over a possible attack at a local school.
Students and parents of local schools were swapping stories and information for much of Monday evening on social media platforms about alleged threats made towards a local school. Some even posted what appeared to be internal school memos with names crossed out that warned of the possible threat. Others linked social media posts showing young people holding firearms.
RCMP say there is no threat. Corporal Curtis Peters of the Alberta RCMP media relations told the Lac La Biche POST newsroom late Monday night that there is no valid threat to schools, students or staff in the Lac La Biche area.
"There is no danger, that's first and foremost," he said when contacted just before midnight on Monday night.
"The party responsible for all this has been located and we are satisfied that it is safe to go to school."
— Alberta RCMP spokesperson Corp. Curtis Peters
Police in Edmonton have been working with the file for a few days, Peters said, explaining that a person under the age of 18 had reportedly issued some threatening comments on a social media page. Peters said that person had — at one time — been a student at a Lac La Biche school, but was now in Edmonton. From the information he had, Peters said it appears the messaging had been made several days ago, but the police file didn't begin until this past weekend when a concern was raised to authorities. Action was taken right away.
"The individual responsible is not in Lac La Biche, (the individual) is in Edmonton and has been identified and dealt with, and there is no threat to the safety of the students in Lac La Biche," Peters said. "The party responsible for all this has been located and we are satisfied that it is safe to go to school."
When asked if any charges had been laid in connection with the case, Peters said it was an Edmonton Police Service file and he didn't yet have full details of the outcome.
He did say that Lac La Biche RCMP had been notified about the young person and the threat allegations, again stressing that any perceived threat level has been deemed by police as "extremely low."
The name of the Lac La Biche school or schools in the alleged messaging was not released by RCMP.
Kids at home
Despite the assurances from police, many parents on several social media group chats said they were not expecting to send their children to school on Tuesday. Many wondered if the school doors would be locked or if RCMP would be at schools.
Northern Lights Public Schools officials were sent a request for comment late Monday night, but had not responded by the initial article deadline. In an email, school representatives have been asked why notifications weren't sent out to parents or community members.
There were no classes in NLPS schools in Lac Lac La Biche on Monday because of the division-wide IGNITE-22 Professional Development day for all staff.
More information on the alleged threats — and the reaction — will follow. www.lakelandtoday.ca
