A young person has been charged with uttering threats in connection to a series of incidents that led to lockdowns and hold-and-secure orders at schools in Coquitlam back in February. Coquitlam RCMP announced the charge in a statement Thursday, though the detachment said the charge was approved by the B.C. Prosecution Service more than a month ago on Oct. 8. Police did not share the accused’s age or gender. They cannot be named because they are a minor and therefore subject to the Youth Criminal Justice Act. Mounties said the charge stems from a “complex investigation” that began in February and remains ongoing. “These incidents garnered significant media attention and raised understandable concerns within our community,” said Supt. Ian MacLellan, the officer in charge of Coquitlam RCMP, in the statement. “Our investigators have worked tirelessly to pursue every lead and bring the person responsible before the courts. We remain committed to protecting our community and ensuring residents continue to feel safe, particularly our children and youth.” Police said the accused has been released and is “subject to various conditions,” though they did not specify what those conditions are. Centennial Secondary School was subject to security precautions for three days in a row and four days in two weeks in late January and early February. Other schools in the Coquitlam School District were also subject to unfounded threats at the time, and also had safety measures put in place as a precaution. In B.C. schools, “lockdown” typically refers to a precautionary measure used when a potential security threat is inside a school building. Normal school operations are stopped and students and teachers take safety precautions inside secure rooms. Under a “hold-and-secure” protocol, school doors are closed and locked, but normal operations typically continue inside the school building. At the time of the incidents, police shared few details about the nature of the threats that had been made, saying only that they “follow established protocols” that are “intentionally cautious” when threats to schools are made. The February incidents occurred just days before the Tumbler Ridge Secondary School tragedy, in which five students and a staff member were killed in one of the deadliest mass shootings in Canadian history.
