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Shooting threat made against West Kelowna high school under investigation

Bathroom wall threat initiates school violence crisis response protocol at Mount Boucherie
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A threat scribbled on a washroom wall to ‘shoot up’ Mount Boucherie Secondary School on Wednesday (May 13) is under investigation by the school district.

The photo of the written threat was posted on social media, including a Facebook account called Parents Against Bullying, which has spread fear and concern among parents after classes were dismissed on Wednesday, wondering how seriously to take the threat.

Word spread among the Central Okanagan school trustees about the threat at the close of the board of education meeting on Wednesday evening.

Kevin Kaardal, superintendent/CEO for Central Okanagan Public Schools, acknowledged that the photo of the threatening graffiti being posted on social media has raised fears among parents about whether or not to send their kids to school on Friday.

Kaardal labelled it as a “non-specific threat” that has now caused a situation of escalating concern for parents because of access to seeing the photo without any explanation or context as to how serious it might be.

As per school district protocols, the school violence threat crisis response team has been activated to investigate the complaint, and the RCMP have also been notified.

Kaardal reiterated that all threats of violence against schools and students are taken seriously.

He said the school will be open on Friday unless the investigation suggests otherwise, adding parents have the choice of whether or not to send their kids to school that day.



Barry Gerding

About the Author: Barry Gerding

Senior regional reporter for Black Press Media in the Okanagan. I have been a journalist in the B.C. community newspaper field for 37 years...
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