A bomb threat at Nelson High School forced students to evacuate close to dismissal time Wednesday afternoon (Nov. 1).
All in-school after-school activities were cancelled in accordance with Halton Regional Police Services, Jason Misner, senior communications officer with the Halton District School Board, said in an email.
“We can confirm that Nelson High School in Burlington received an anonymous bomb threat this afternoon,” Misner said.
The school, which has 1,375 students, was swept by police and the K9 unit, and it was determined that the school was safe.
“The school was emptying already since it was nearing the end of the day,” HRPS Staff Sergeant Peter Bishop said. “The decision was made to just empty the rest of the staff and any students that were left inside.”
Several schools – and school boards – in Ontario received bomb threat calls today. According to Toronto Police Service, Kipling Collegiate, Lakeshore Collegiate Institute and Western Tech received threats at approximately 2:30 p.m.
“There were a number of schools that were recipients of bomb threats throughout the GTA today,” Bishop said. “One of them happened to be Nelson High School.”
The Ontario Provincial Police investigated multiple bomb threats in Northern Ontario in several school boards this morning as well, which left many schools closed for the day.
OPP is investigating multiple bomb threats across Northern Ontario targeting multiple schools and school boards. As a precaution many schools are closed. Parents should contact schools for more information. Local officers and OPP Cybercrime Investigations Team are engaged pic.twitter.com/NMhbPJCe6t
— OPP North East Region (@OPP_NER) November 1, 2023
At the time of writing, there are no suspects or known motive.
“The matter is still under investigation, so anything would be speculative,” Bishop said. “But there were multiple schools that received a threat today, so there is certainly the possibility that they’re all related.”
Bishop added that the matter is no longer a police response, but an investigation.
