School officials remain vigilant after trio of school shooting threats in Waterloo Region

Waterloo Regional Police are now investigating three school shooting threats in less than a week in Waterloo Region, including two of them Tuesday alone.

And with the first threat from last week at Huron Heights Secondary in Kitchener dated for Wednesday, school board officials say they are working with Regional Police on it.

But otherwise, Board Superintendent Ron DeBoer tells 570 NEWS the school day is “business as usual.”

The threat written on a girls bathroom stall found last Wednesday read quote “School Shooting March 28! Not a joke. Watch Out.”

“We do take the threat seriously,” DeBoer said, “And we have vigilance on the school.”

Cameron Heights Collegiate Institute in Kitchener was briefly placed under a hold and secure Tuesday morning, after a student found graffiti on a stall in the girls washroom that read “SCHOOL SHOOTING TODAY (TUESDAY) – AT 9:50 A.M. CANCEL SCHOOL TODAY. COME TOMORROW. WATCH OUT BITCHES.”

The student reported it to staff, who them reported it to police.

Cameron Heights Principal Ray Teed released a statement on their website, stating that “in our current climate, it is unacceptable and morally abhorrent to makes threats towards members of the school community.”

“Students have a right to learn in a safe environment without fear. Threats are never a joke. We take any intimidation or threat of violence seriously and the authors of these threats will be held accountable.”

Tuesday afternoon, it was revealed that Glenview Park Secondary School in Cambridge are dealing with a similar threat.

According to a statement posted by their Principal Dave Wilson, staff were alerted about graffiti on school property that read “Watch out Glenview. Gun shooting Thursday March 29.”

“Our staff and student safety and well-being is a top priority and we are working closely with the Waterloo Regional Police Service,” Wilson said.

“We want to reiterate the statements from our board that it is unacceptable to make threats towards anyone. Our students have the right to learn in a safe environment without fear. No matter the intention, we take any threat of violence seriously and the authors of these threats will be held accountable.”

Police spokesperson Cherri Greeno says no matter the intention of the notes, they are taken “very seriously, not only by police but by the community, as well as students and staff at the school.”

“They will be investigated, and serious consequences could arise from an investigation like this.”

All three schools run under the Waterloo Region District School Board.

Superintendent DeBoer says threats like these don’t help in providing a safe and stress-free learning environment.

“We have a heightened nervousness in our society right now with things that are going on in the United States and what’s happening in the news,” he said, “And these kinds of, if they are pranks and jokes, add to that heightened sense of stress and anxiety in our schools. And that’s not helpful for learning.”

“We want our learning spaces to be safe, and we want our students to be well and be able to learn in spaces where they can feel safe.”

He adds it’s never a joke or prank to make a threat against the community, no matter the location.

If you have any information regarding any of the threats, you are asked to contact Regional Police or Crime Stoppers.