A 15-year-old girl has been arrested and charged after an anonymous threat prompted staff at Branksome Hall in Toronto to end the school year earlier.
On Monday (June 13th), Toronto police received a threatening call from a school near Mount Pleasant Road and Elm Avenue. The incident happened just before 7:30 a.m. and briefly led to a lock on Branksom Hall.
The officers arrived on the scene and found that the threats were “unfounded”.
No casualties were reported.
However, the students were sent home for the rest of the day.
That evening, the independent private girls’ school sent a letter home to the parents informing them that classes had been canceled for the rest of the school year. The last school day for the 2021-2022 school year in Branksome Hall was Tuesday, June 14.
In a statement to CP24 at the time, Branksom Hall spokeswoman Lisa Stevenson said they had decided to end the school year earlier after “carefully weighing the risks … against the safety of our community.”
She said Branksome Hall had arranged exams and worked with parents and staff to “find creative ways to finish the end of the year and celebrate our students’ achievements.” The school’s 12th grade graduation ceremony was held in May, while year-end graduation ceremonies for grades 6 to 11 were held “mostly virtually” this week, Stevenson said.
Toronto police arrested a 15-year-old girl on Monday.
The accused, whose name cannot be named under the provisions of the Juvenile Criminal Justice Act, has been charged with death threats, public mischief and giving false information in order to sound the alarm. It has a court date of August 15.
Anyone with additional information should contact the police at 416-808-5300 or anonymously at Crime Stoppers at 416-222-8477 (TIPS) or www.222tips.com.
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