RCMP officers were on the scene at R. D. Parker Collegiate in Thompson on the evening of Nov. 26 and again Nov. 27 after an alleged bomb threat was found scrawled across the walls in a boys' bathroom at the school.
The School District of Mystery Lake sent out a letter to parents on Nov. 26 expressing that "there has been some writing in one of the washrooms at R. D. Parker that has caused some concern pertaining to the school on Friday, Nov. 27." The letter goes on to say that the incident is being taken seriously and steps have been taken to ensure the safety of staff and students, while at the same time apologizing to parents about the non-specific nature of information the district was able to give out due to the incident being under police investigation. It also stated that classes will resume as normal with parents making the decision to send their children to school or not.
RCMP Sgt. Rob Collen says the threat is being investigated by the Thompson RCMP but the exact nature of the threat cannot be confirmed due its credibility and validity. However, a 15-year-old Grade 10 student at R. D. Parker who wishes to remain unnamed told the Thompson Citizen that he was the one who found the threat on Nov. 26.
"I just went to the washroom and it was written there on the wall, saying 'I'm going to blow up the school on the 27 of November, I swear to God' or something like that, something along those lines," he explains. "I went to the security guard and he said to keep it on the down-low."
According to the student, there is a rumour circulating the high school that the person who brought the matter to the principal is going to be killed, and even though he believes it to be false and the bomb threat a "hoax", he did want his name used for that reason.
The threat was for 2 p.m. in the afternoon and the word "bomb" was misspelled, several sources told the Thompson Citizen.
Hugh Fraser, superintendent of the School District of Mystery Lake, says that an incident like this happened two years ago at Burntwood Elementary School and the district is following the same steps it took that time, including having RCMP officers present at the school and searching the school for any dangerous material.
"In the Burntwood situation not many kids stayed home but some did. I would say the same would apply here. Some people will elect to keep their students home," he says. "But I mean, let's face it - we wouldn't open the building if we thought it was unsafe. When you get threats like that you have to take them seriously, so we have our protocols, we take the steps we need to ensure the safety of everybody."
New R. D. Parker principal Ryan Land echoes Fraser's statements, saying the sad truth is that such threats have become prevalent in today's world. While Land said last Thursday, "Policy and procedure were followed and a press release was issued by the School District of Mystery Lake," Fraser said on Friday no press release was issued by the school district. Land's letter to parents and guardians, with an addendum, was faxed to several radio stations and Shaw Cable, Fraser said, but no attempt was made by either the district or high school to contact the Thompson Citizen. The newspaper obtained a copy of Land's letter through its own sources.
"We give people the information and they get to make their own decisions. But if I didn't feel safe, we wouldn't have been open today. I feel safe. I'm feeling no heightened sense of stress today at all, other than that there's a little more traffic and the phone is ringing more than it would normally be," he told the Thompson Citizen on Nov. 27. And despite many students choosing to stay home, Land says the day passed quietly and without incident.
According to Fraser, around 18 per cent of students stayed home that day as compared to other school days, but it's impossible to tell whether that's because they were actually sick or worried about the threat, he says.
Also because of this, Fraser says the absenteeism wasn't noted on the School District of Mystery Lake's website because it is impossible to tell if it was "usual" or "unusual" at this point in time. In fact, the school district's website all day Friday claimed "R.D. Parker Collegiate No unusual absenteeism reported," even though almost one in five students officially were nowhere near the school to be seen.
Coincidentally, the School District of Mystery Lake just took part in risk and threat assessment training days before the threat was made.
