- Police investigate threats against 13 schools across New Zealand
- Some schools were locked with students under desks, others evacuated
- Police do not believe there is any security risk at this stage
- Several schools have been targeted by bomb threats in recent days
- Police are investigating robberies at a total of 13 schools in New Zealand.
- Some schools and students were offered under the tables, others outside
- Police currently claim no security threat
- Some schools have been hit by explosives in recent days
The police cybercrime unit is investigating threats calls to 13 schools across the country on Thursday, in addition to five calls earlier this week.
Assistant Police Commissioner Bruce O’Brien said the threats ranged from just before 11 a.m. to about 2 p.m.
The schools involved were St Matthew’s Collegiate in Masterton, Kaikōura, Greymouth High School, Wakatipu High School in Queenstown, Horowhenua College in Levin, Whanganui, Rolleston College, Takaka, Geraldine, Dunstan High School in Alexandra, Christ’s College in Christchurch, Ashburton and Awatapu College at Palmerston North.
The threats could come from overseas, O’Brien told Stuff, but police hadn’t ruled out a domestic caller yet.
“I really hope we can trace the origins of these schools as soon as possible,” he said.
The police cybercrime unit was involved and the police were ready to cooperate with international partners if necessary.
“We’re looking into all the possibilities of where the calls could be coming from,” O’Brien said.
“[It’s] very important for us to get to the bottom of where they come from, and of course hold the person or persons responsible for these actions.
“They cause a significant amount of suffering for schools and students, and of course for parents. But it is also the disruption of the functioning of the school that has a major effect on our students.”
Debbie Jamieson / Stuff
Emergency services at Wakatipu High School in Queenstown, which was evacuated on Thursday.
O’Brien said this incident was “very similar in nature” to global “robo-hoaxes”, which threatened New Zealand and Australian schools in 2016 and 2017.
The police were working with their international partners at the time and the overseas perpetrator – based in Israel – was identified and held accountable.
These kinds of threats often came from abroad, he said, and people used tools like VPNs to mask their location and identities.
“Therefore, our cybercrime team will play an important role in this investigation.”
Past and unrelated threats
The calls come days after five North Island schools in Waikato, Thames and Gisborne received bomb threats on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Marlborough Girls’ College received unrelated threats on Wednesday and Thursday. Police spoke to two young people in connection with this incident.
Tasman Area Commander Simon Feltham said emergency services wanted to highlight the negative impact hoax calls had on the community, and resources that may be needed to respond to other incidents.
Matthew Hampson / Stuff
On Wednesday afternoon, the Marlborough Girls’ College was threatened.
School responses to the threats
Grant Congdon, principal of Horowhenua College in Levin, said the school received a bomb threat around 11:10 a.m. He said they were looking into whether they would go into lockdown and couldn’t provide more details. People at the school had to stand on the field in the wind and rain, and students were sent home early, a member of the school community told Stuff.
‘This is scary’
Awatapu College in Palmerston North was evacuated Thursday morning. An Awatapu student, who asked to remain anonymous, said a teacher entered their class to tell students that there had been a bomb threat and that older students could leave, while 9th graders had to wait in the gym before being picked up. by their parents.
The student said they weren’t too concerned, but the teachers looked concerned.
John Bisset/Stuff
Police at Geraldine High School on Thursday morning.
“A few kids said ‘this is so scary’. I don’t know if they were serious or not.”
Awatapu College later posted an update on social media saying that the police had cleared the site and that school activities would resume normally the following day.
Geraldine High School was closed. A parent who had two children there said that both texted her saying students were under desks and up against walls. A child had said that their teacher closed the blinds.
Students from Wakatipu High School in Queenstown were evacuated from the buildings and gathered in the fields around lunchtime. Later they came back.
Wakatipu High School has informed parents that Thursday’s evacuation was due to the school receiving a bomb threat call.
“We believe the call was automated and came from a foreign number. The police told us that there had been more than 20 such calls,” the report said.
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Wakatipu High School in Queenstown evacuated students and staff from buildings around lunchtime on Thursday after receiving a threat — one of many schools across the country.
Masterton girls’ school St Matthew’s Collegiate went into lockdown just after midday after receiving a threatening phone call as well. The school was not evacuated.
Parental messaging system partially not working
The school principal in South Canterbury who received a telephone threat on Thursday says that while evacuation procedures went ‘extremely’ well, he was disappointed that an automatic warning system was not working properly.
The school’s principal, who is also president of the Aoraki Secondary Principals’ Association, Simon Coleman, said the school was shut down around 12:30 p.m. after they received a call from an unknown person threatening the school.
“We pressed the lock button after calling the police when we were made aware of the threat,” Coleman said.
“The police arrived quickly and we are lucky that our police station is not too far from the school.”
When police arrived at the school, the students and teachers were evacuated to Kennedy Park, a few yards from the school.
He said a system the school has put in place, which sends a message to caregivers and parents notifying them of the situation, has failed in part, as some have not received the notification of the closure.
“I’ve gotten two emails and a few phone calls about it,” Coleman said. “It’s disappointing and we’ll have a talk with our IT company to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
Parents argue to send children to school
In an email to parents and students on Wednesday evening, Principal Mary Jeanne-Lynch said the school had received an “anonymous threat” earlier that day.
“We have contacted the New Zealand Police and they are now investigating this incident and supporting them,” she said in the email.
“I understand that this may concern you, and rest assured that both the police and I are taking this matter very seriously. Police are not concerned about the safety of students and staff at school [on Thursday].”
However, parents discussed on social media on Wednesday evening whether to send their daughters to school on Thursday.
One parent, who wished to remain anonymous, said: stuff she did not send her daughter to school on Thursday and was concerned she would be notified hours after the incident.
“I feel that parents of the school should be well aware of the threat that has been made,” she said.
Lynch told stuff on Thursday she “completely understood” that the threat was a concern for the parents and said it was a “major concern for me and our staff”.
“But I would say I have full confidence in the police, in their approach, and they have assured us that students and staff can go to school safely today, tomorrow and beyond.”
She couldn’t provide more details about the threat itself, saying she was following police’s advice not to share further information, “as any sensible person would”.