THREATENING LETTER: What Penticton police are telling parents as they prepare for a new school week
PENTICTON – Fears of a continued threat and frustration over communication was on parents’ minds at a community meeting set up by School District 67 following last week’s discovery of a threatening letter at Skaha Lake Middle School.
Police and school officials met with students' parents and members of the public to hear their concerns as well as to bring them up to date on the investigation into the threatening letter.
Penticton RCMP Supt. Kevin Hewco told approximately 200 people assembled at the Penticton Trade and Convention Centre Sunday evening, Feb.22, no new leads had been turned up in the investigation over the weekend.
Encouraging everyone to get engaged, Hewco said the community can get better by working together. He urged parents to find out what their kids were doing on the internet, and who they were hanging out with.
“Unfortunately, the target audience I’d like to send that message to is probably not in the room tonight,” he said, urging parents to go home and talk to their kids.
Staff Sgt. Curt Lozinski said further investigation over the weekend had police no further ahead, adding the message was likely either fictitious at the beginning, or the writer realized: ’What have I done? How do I get out from under this thing?'
“We want to help these people, we don’t want to throw them in jail,” he said.
Plans for the upcoming school week include maintaining a police presence around four schools — Princess Margaret, Penticton High, Skaha Lake Middle School and Okanagan Falls — along with increased adult supervision and restricted access through schools.
School District 67 Supt. Wendy Hyer encouraged the return of schools to normal operation to lessen the traumatic effect of the incident on students. She said District and school counsellors would be on hand for students, encouraging anyone who sees something that “doesn’t look or feel right” to act on it.
One parent asked Hewco how he would rate the threat on a scale of one to 10.
"Our gut check is that it is low, as cops. But we can’t treat it that way,” Hewco said. “Because we’re not getting any tips,we think the threat level is low, but we have to be cautious in saying that, because it’s not fair to anyone here, for me to downplay the seriousness of this… I don’t want to install fear in people. The biggest message here is everyone needs to be alive to what’s around them — be vigilant, not paranoid."
Concerned parents focussed on communications issues that cropped up during the incident last week. Several parents said schools did not communicate the threat properly to the students. One parent said the school failed to let students know they were safe in class, an observation that received a round of applause.
Another parent had difficulty coming to terms with the police assessment the threat was low.
“What if something slips through?” she asked.
“Everyone feels that angst. It’s the elephant in the room – you can’t let that defeat you,” answered Hewco.
To contact the reporter for this story, email Steve Arstad at sarstad@infonews.ca or call 250-488-3065. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.
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7 responses
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that will fix the system won’t it…just ignore the suffering and reasoning of this child’s reaction to a broken system…you heartless mindless twat! let me guess, you work for gov?
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It is absolutely sickening how people get off sending this type of letter.As if the kids of this province haven’t missed enough school.I hope they catch the culprit and if it is a student, they expel the little demon.See how he likes it.
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It’s kind of hard to get anything out of these news story when you only tell only part of the story. So in-depth, so decisive. Wow, someone actually get’s paid to write this shite. What a joke.
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this child is a victim of a corrupt and unaccountable government/society…the child’s anger is in my opinion, justified and a direct result of the treatment he/she has received. what else does anyone expect from this child;driven mad by a system that is failing them, that is corrupt, that is wrong… violence is never justified, and the child is doing everything he/she can to NOT be violent, though people can be pushed over the edge…this child is crying out for help, though the “system” will brand him/her as a criminal and the system as righteous. you don’t need to be an over educatedso called expert to understand this child is a victim, is hurting, if he/she really intended to shoot someone he/she would have done so already.the experiences this child is living through is criminal at the hands of government and amounts to torture at the hands of government and society; gov and society should be ashamed of themselves; indeed government legally a person, if given a psychiatric evaluation would be diagnosed as psycho its self, you reap what you sow…as things get worse at the hands of government governing society, this child is only one of many thousands who feel and may act in the same way…last year we saw several incidences of adults who shot at police, who harmed others and themselves…obviously violence is NEVER the answer though would anyone of us react differently in the situation the child describes. be prepared for even more in the coming years as people are driven over the edge by a system that is truly psycho; leaving God and God’s laws behind; government has replaced God with themselves as gods, only they are ignorant psychotic gods with the mentality of 5 year old playing with a loaded gun in a crowded room.he/she needs help in the form of someone who will listen care and minister good advice and help…and so if you are reading this, contact me, as God as my witness I will help you with all my heart in every way I can,[I will not turn you in, I promise to help you where others have failed you], when the time is right, you can turn yourself in on your own conditions, don’t run don’t hide and don’t do anything stupid like hurting others OR yourself; I know your fear and anger, let me show you how to deal with it and redirect that fear and anger, let me help you. talk to me, lean on me, let me help you turn away from the darkness and show you the light….and this goes for anyone who has similar thoughts of hurting themselves or others…its a trap, let me help you travers the mine/mind field. we are all in this together, and together we can change reality.
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