A 12-year-old and a 13-year-old have been arrested by police after allegedly making threats towards Winnipeg area schools on social media.
Police say the investigation cost them upwards of $45,000 and involve communicating with a European based social media service to identify the suspects.
On January 17, 2019, police learned of an online threat against Arthur Day Middle School and John W. Gunn Middle School. As the evening progressed police say they fielded a number of calls from concerned parents as the threats began to spread across social media as people reposted them.
Around 10:30 pm police say another threat was found online, this time it was aimed towards Ecole Van Belleghem.
On Monday, January 21, 2019, police became the targets on social media as someone threatened to harm officers. Once again the threat was reposted multiple time on social media and police received more calls from concerned parents.
Police arrested the 13-year-old male on Tuesday, January 22, 2019, for uttering threats to cause bodily death or bodily harm for the threats made against Arthur Day and John W. Gunn Middle schools and to police officers.
The 12-year old was arrested on the same charge for threats made against Ecole Van Belleghem.
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Police say that they do not believe the two incidents were related or that the threats were credible. Investigators believe that the youth thought they would remain anonymous and may not have understood the seriousness of their actions.
