Steinbach RCMP say Thursday's safety measures at schools in the city was the result of threats made by a teenage boy.

Police say a 14-year-old male made a threat that caused police to become concerned, prompting a request to the Hanover School Division to place both Steinbach Regional Secondary School and Stonybrook Middle School into Hold and Secure. This happened shortly before 3 pm.

According to the Hanover School Division, a Hold and Secure is used when it is necessary to secure a school because an emergency is occurring outside the school. Classes may continue to function normally. The exterior doors are locked and monitored to allow students and staff to enter, but otherwise remain locked. Once inside, no one leaves the building. An active police incident in a neighbourhood may trigger a Hold and Secure.

As a precautionary measure, Hanover School Division directed all other Steinbach schools to delay the dismissal of their students.

According to police, the youth turned himself in to Steinbach RCMP and remains in custody. At approximately 3:50 pm, RCMP gave the “all clear,” and all Steinbach students were dismissed.

Hanover Superintendent Shelley Amos says when urgent school-wide incidents occur, the division attempts to contact parents/caregivers as quickly as possible through email/voicemail (Bright Arrow Messaging System). She says there are some technical limitations in sending voicemails. The automated dialer may encounter dropped calls or busy signals when a large volume of calls is sent, resulting in messages being placed in a later queue to try again. In such instances, voicemails may be received out of order. She says they also recognize that in some cases, parents/caregivers may first hear of the incident from their children (mobile phones) on location at the school.

Amos says once the first notification is sent, updates are posted on the HSD.ca website and to @HanoverSD as quickly as they are received from RCMP. She says they also attempt to send updates via email/voicemail. She says they will share as many details about the incident as is safe to do so at that moment, with the information provided by RCMP. 

RCMP continue to investigate.

Additional information is expected to be released on Friday.