RCMP investigate Incident at BCHS

 Bonnyville RCMP charge youth with weapon offences

Yesterday at approximately 11:30 a.m., Bonnyville RCMP received a report of a student who had allegedly brought a firearm to Bonnyville Centralized High School on March 12, 2018. The incident was not reported to school staff or police until the day after.

Police immediately responded to the school and arrested a student. The firearm was not located at the school but was later seized as part of the investigation.

The youth who cannot be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act was charged with:

• Possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose
• Carry a concealed weapon
• Unauthorized possession of a restricted firearm
• Possession of a restricted firearm without license

The youth was released after a judicial hearing with conditions including not to attend the school or have contact with several students. The youth will be appearing in Bonnyville Provincial Court on March 20, 2018.

As this matter is now before the courts no further information will be provided.

BACKGROUND

This morning the Bonnyville RCMP responded to a call at the Bonnyville Centralized High School (BCHS). The nature of the call has not been confirmed; school officials say there is an investigation underway.

This afternoon, Corey Baker, Principal of BCHS, sent out an email to parents informing them of the incident:

“Some of you may have already heard that the RCMP were at our school today as part of an investigation involving an incident with a student. We want you to know that there was no threat to student safety today and there was no lockdown at the school.

Due to the ongoing RCMP investigation, we are not sharing specific information about the incident at this time. We realize you may hear information from your children or other members of the community, some of which may be accurate and some inaccurate. If you are concerned about the information that is being shared with you, please contact school administration.

At BCHS, the safety of students is our first priority. We have safety protocols in place to deal with threats to student safety and will enact them when necessary. BCHS is a great school with amazing students and a wonderful, caring staff. Unfortunately, from time to time, incidents do occur at the school that require disciplinary measures and may sometimes require assistance or intervention from law enforcement. In this case, law enforcement is involved and the school is co-operating with the investigation.

 

We would like to thank all of the parents who contacted us today for their patience and understanding. We understand many of you were concerned about what you heard was happening at the school and wanted to ensure your children were safe. We want to assure you that student safety was our primary focus throughout this incident and will continue to be our focus as we move forward.”

Lakeland Connect will keep you posted as this story develops.