2 teens arrested for making new online threats against Peel region high schools
Police in Peel Region have arrested two teenagers in connection with online threats made on Thursday against two separate high schools in Mississauga and Brampton.
Const. Heather Cannon, spokesperson for Peel Regional Police, said officers have charged a 16-year-old girl and a 14-year-old boy with one count each of uttering threats.
The threats are separate from an online threat made against six high schools in Peel Region on March 2.
Cannon said police do not know if the teens who were arrested and charged are connected to each other in any way. She declined to describe the nature of the threats or to identify the social media platforms on which the threats appeared.
In a news release on Thursday, police said the teen girl allegedly made a threat against Lincoln Alexander Secondary School in Mississauga on Thursday. Police were called to the school at 8:45 a.m. that day. The girl is from Mississauga.
Police said in the release that the teen boy allegedly made a threat against Chinguacousy Secondary School in Brampton also on Thursday. Police were called to the school at 10 a.m. that day. The boy is from Brampton.
Both teenagers were released with conditions and are expected to appear before the Ontario Court of Justice in Brampton on a future date.
No arrests for previous threat: police
Cannon said officers from Peel police's youth criminal investigations bureau have not yet made any arrests in connection with the online threat made against the six high schools. That threat was contained in one social media post, but Cannon declined to say on which social media platform it was made.
According to police, that threat indicated someone would go to six secondary schools in Peel Region on Friday, March 10 with the intent to "shoot them up."
The six schools were identified as follows:
Holy Name of Mary Secondary School.
Louise Arbour Secondary School.
St. Thomas Aquinas Secondary School.
Notre Dame Secondary School.
Chinguacousy Secondary School.
Ascension of Our Lord Secondary School.
Police have said they take the threats seriously, and on Friday, they will have a visible presence at these schools, along with Lincoln Alexander Secondary School.
Cannon said it will be up to parents to decide whether to send their teens to these schools on Friday.
