Okanagan Falls Elementary School is in lockdown mode while police investigate a threatening letter.
Numerous parents in Okanagan Falls are keeping their children home from school today as a precaution after a threatening letter was discovered on Wednesday.
The RCMP has been actively investigating photocopies of a letter that was left on the school grounds of Skaha Middle School and Princess Margaret Secondary School. The letter also referenced Okanagan Falls Elementary School.
“I will dust bratz til I got no more ammo, especially that Bobo at OK Fallz school,” the letter reads.
The writer indicates he hates school and is bullied all of time.
“I will wait for the right day an use my dadz gunz and put a cap down there throts . . . get famos an die.”
It is not known whether the writer is a student in Penticton or Okanagan Falls.
The news was very unsettling to parents. One worried father said he wasn’t taking any chances and was keeping his two children home from school.
One student said she was scared but didn’t think anything would happen at school on Thursday.
The RCMP is treating the letter as a credible threat. As a result, there was police presence at the Penticton schools and at Okanagan Falls Elementary on Wednesday afternoon and Thursday.
As a tactic to try to identify the author of the letter, the RCMP released it to the public and the media.
Amanda Palmer, acting principal in Okanagan Falls, told parents that the school was taking all precautions.
“We will have police presence at our school tomorrow (Thursday) and we will be issuing a perimeter lockdown, which means that we will keep students inside the building upon arrival until the end of the school day.”
Superintendent of Schools Bev Young said there is no known imminent danger to students or staff, but the RCMP is taking steps to determine who is responsible. She noted that police are in the schools to ensure everyone’s safety until a suspect can be identified.
UPDATE: School board chair Marieze Tarr said the RCMP did not have a suspect identified as of Thursday afternoon and were not planning to assign officers to Okanagan Falls school on Friday.
“As a result, we are choosing to further our precautionary measures by cancelling classes at Okanagan Falls Elementary School on Friday, Feb. 20 in hopes that the RCMP can use all resources to focus on their investigation,” Tarr said.
Anyone with information that could help the police investigation is asked to contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
