A teenage girl will be charged with public mischief in connection with the “threatening remarks” which forced the closure of the Heritage regional high school on Monday. The case had forced a large police deployment, which was not, however, a first for this establishment.
“You are responsible for your actions and your words, and you can be sued, even if you did not initially realize that your actions were going to be taken seriously,” insists the Longueuil agglomeration police department ( SPAL) in a short press release released on Wednesday.
The teenager, who is not a student of this school in the Saint-Hubert borough, was arrested Tuesday after an investigation that took place over a little more than 24 hours . She “will face charges of public mischief,” said the police force.
Recall that shortly after the facts, last Monday, a minor suspect, who does not attend the school either, was first arrested by the police, then met by the investigators. But he was eventually released without any charges being brought against him.
This is far from the first time that a police operation has been held at Heritage School, which regularly has to deal with security issues.
More than a year ago, on October 2, 2020, some 1,600 students from Heritage School were emergency evacuated in the pouring rain. They had first all been placed in “preventive” confinement for nearly four hours, with teachers and staff. The reason: A 14-year-old, who was not attending school, had made threats against the principal and students online.
In February 2019, a 25-year-old man from Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu was also arrested for making online threats against the same high school. The situation had, again, forced the confinement of the school for several hours. For the moment, the Longueuil police force does not establish direct links between the event that occurred on Monday and those dating from 2019 and 2020. It is also unknown whether the suspect arrested on Monday is the same as in the past.
On social networks, parents have expressed their serious concerns about this multiplication of incidents. “It’s really starting to worry. I am thinking of changing my school children. So far it’s only been threats, but I don’t want to wait and see if it ever comes true, ”one wrote on the school’s Facebook page. “Other schools have recently suffered similar threats. School is not the problem. It’s bigger than that, ”another retorted.