Moncton schools placed on lockdown after alleged threat

The New Brunswick RCMP are investigating alleged threats against schools in the Anglophone East School District, which caused Moncton-area schools to be placed on lockdown Tuesday.

School district spokesperson Stephanie Patterson says the officer of the superintendent received a “notice of a threatening nature regarding unidentified schools” in the district just before lunch Tuesday.

Police were notified and all schools in the district were placed on lockdown as a precautionary measure, until after the time limit of the alleged threat had passed.

Supt. Gregg Ingersoll says the message indicated there would be violence at some of the schools within 20 minutes of receiving the threat.

“We responded by calling the police and asking our schools to go into lockdown,” says Ingersoll.

Once the 20 minutes mentioned in the threat had passed, the school board and RCMP lowered the lockdown to a “hold and secure” procedure, where classes continued normally, though students stayed in their classrooms.

Ingersoll went on to say some schools did receive direct threats, and police remained on scene for the rest of the school day, though no incidents were reported.

Schools were dismissed at their usual time and classes resumed as normal Wednesday.

The Anglophone East School District serves approximately 15,600 students in 37 schools in southeastern New Brunswick.