Hamilton police investigating bomb threat at Bishop Ryan high school

For the second day in a row, classes at Bishop Ryan Catholic Secondary School in Hamilton have been disrupted and students ordered to leave the building due to a threat.

Hamilton police were contacted at around 11 a.m. Tuesday regarding a bomb threat that was received by phone.

Police said at noon that all students and staff are safe after being evacuated to Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic Elementary School.

 

The Hamilton police tactical unit and bomb squad are currently going through the building to ensure it’s safe, Hamilton police Supt. Will Mason said at a press conference on Tuesday afternoon.

“At this point I can say that we haven’t seen anything to indicate that it’s a credible threat, however as I mentioned yesterday, we take these things very seriously,” Mason said.

On Monday morning, school officials reported receiving two phone calls from a voice believed to be male. The caller threatened to bring a weapon to the school and harm students and teachers, prompting a lockdown that lasted hours. The threat was later determined not to be valid.

The caller on Tuesday had a similar voice, Mason said, and the phone number was the same, though phone numbers can be spoofed to hide the origin of the call.

Mason said while that the circumstances of both instances appear similar, investigators cannot definitively say the same individual is responsible for both.

He said these threats are not a joke and mentioned that Hamilton police would be dedicating significant resources into identifying the origin of the calls.

With files from Sara Cain

 

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