‘It’s not a joke’: Winnipeg police detail arrests amid a spate of school threats

WINNIPEG — Police in Winnipeg are warning about a recent spate of threats to local schools.

Staff Sgt. Shaun Venn says none of the 11 separate calls received between Feb. 3 and Feb. 19 were credible.

But he says three people — two youths and a 30-year-old woman from Toronto — have been charged with uttering threats.

School safety has been a high-profile issue in Canada after a mass shooting at a school in Tumbler Ridge, B.C., on Feb. 10.

Venn couldn’t say if the threats after that date were inspired by Tumbler Ridge.

But he says they are no laughing matter as they waste precious resources and can prove traumatizing to those who see police roll up to schools en masse.

“It’s not a joke. It’s not funny,” Venn told reporters Wednesday. “And I don’t think the police need to explain the … consequences of a criminal record that can follow you around for the rest of your life.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 25, 2026.

— By Aaron Sousa in Edmonton