Teen arrested after online threat against Saskatoon high school

A 16-year-old boy is facing a charge of uttering threats after a social media post caused concern for parents and students at Saskatoon’s Holy Cross High School.

The post, which was shared widely by students on SnapChat, featured a map of the school with descriptions of how a school shooting would be conducted.

It spoke of “executing” students in common areas at the lunch hour of Dec. 17, with a “goal” of 150-200.

Staff Sgt. Maj. Grant Obst told reporters Wednesday afternoon police were made aware of the threats around 11 p.m. Tuesday, and patrol officers tracked down the source of the post and made an arrest within 3 1/2 hours.

While the map indicated the shooting would involve two shooters, Obst said police are confident the teen responsible acted alone.

In fact, Obst said police believed there was “no intention” to actually carry out a shooting.

“There is a working theory that this would be an extremely misguided, misjudged joke,” Obst said. “We have come to a point where we are certain that he didn’t intend to go into the school and shoot up the place.”

He added there were replica weapons located in the home where the teen was arrested, but they couldn’t be considered firearms or anything close to the guns described on the map.

Neither Obst nor Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools said whether the arrested teen was a student at Holy Cross.

The social media post caused panic among parents, with many students being held back from classes Wednesday out of safety concerns. Several parents cited concerns around the fact only one person had been arrested.

Holy Cross sent out a note to parents Wednesday morning before class saying police had “neutralized the threat” and it was safe to come to school.

Police also stationed school resource officers at Holy Cross throughout the day to complete safety protocols.

Students who did go to class told 650 CKOM at the lunch hour there were many empty desks in class.

In light of the possibility the post was meant as a joke, Obst had a message for those who would think the suggestion of a school shooting is funny.

“For God’s sake, give your head a shake,” he said. “If I were to look at that diagram, it would scare the heck out of me. If you were thinking that’s funny, you need to think again.”

The 16-year-old is due in court Thursday afternoon for his first appearance. Until then, Obst said the boy had been told to stay away from Holy Cross.