THUNDER BAY, Ont. — Two people have been arrested after a string of anonymous threats to schools in Thunder Bay, Ont., led to regular disruptions to classes, police announced Wednesday.
Police received at least 13 threats to schools between mid-February and mid-April, most targeting Hammarskjold High School, Lakehead Public Schools has said.
In 11 of those cases the alleged threat led to a school closure, with nearby schools often temporarily placed in a hold-and-secure just in case. The other two led to a lockdown or hold-and-secure at the target school.
The problem got so bad that the board started posting school work online so students wouldn't fall behind because of the disruption.
Board spokesman Bruce Nugent has said the threats affected the board's operations, hampering their ability to plan anything.
"This is completely uncharted territory for us and I think anybody else," he said Monday, before the arrests.
Thunder Bay police declined to give any information about the accused and did not say what charges they may face. But police noted that the investigation is ongoing.
Police have said the alleged threats came in through the Crime Stoppers tip system and involved warnings about suspicious packages and school shootings.
Some people urged investigators to view the threats as a hoax, but officers said they had to treat each seriously as a precaution.
They said the investigation took up massive amounts of police resources, pulling officers from other cases.