UPDATED: Manitoba, Nova Scotia youths arrested for allegedly planning school attacks

Police in Manitoba and Nova Scotia have arrested a pair of male youths after they allegedly planned a coordinated attack at two schools in their respective provinces.

Blue Hills RCMP in Manitoba confirmed in a press release Wednesday that officers arrested a 14-year-old male on Monday, March 16, who police say was planning an attack at Rivers Collegiate. Officers initiated a traffic stop on a school bus near Provincial Road 250 and arrested the suspect, who was unarmed. His phone and electronic devices were seized.

A subsequent search of two other properties associated to the youth resulted in the seizure of additional electronic devices and other items, including two firearms owned by a relative, according to the RCMP press release.

On March 13, INTERPOL and the FBI alerted the Bridgewater Police Service in Nova Scotia of a “concerning online conversation” between a youth in that province and a youth in Manitoba, Bridgewater Police said in a news release on Wednesday morning. INTERPOL also alerted Manitoba RCMP the same day.

Manitoba RCMP said officers were informed that the male youth from Rivers was actively discussing and planning to harm other students at Rivers Collegiate.

“An investigation immediately began to identify and locate the 14-year-old who engaged in these conversations and to bring him safely into custody prior to the start of the school week,” Manitoba RCMP stated in the press release.

The community of Rivers, Manitoba is located 40 km northwest of Brandon.

Bridgewater Police said the ongoing conversation began in late February and included the Nova Scotia youth discussing their desire to “mount a violent attack” on students at a secondary school in the province.

“While the attack was not believed to be imminent, it was clear that they had committed some thought and planning to the idea,” the Bridgewater Police release said.

A 15-year-old Nova Scotia youth was arrested on Tuesday March 17, and police executed a search warrant at their residence, where they located detailed handwritten plans, imitation weapons, a roughly made imitation pipe bomb and an assault rifle, along with clothing with hate symbols, Bridgewater Police said in the release.

The Nova Scotia youth was charged with conspiracy to commit murder, uttering threats, and police say they are investigating whether charges relating to hate crimes and other offences can be laid.

Bridgewater Police said investigators believe the two youths had been planning “simultaneous attacks” at their local schools.

The Rolling River School Division Supt. Jason Cline sent an email to parents on Tuesday informing them that RCMP took a student from Rivers into custody while they were on a divisional school bus.

“Following the arrest, officers attended the high school to ensure the safety of students and staff and to gather further information as part of their investigation,” the email said.

The arrest was in relation to “online threat making behaviours by a student toward others, Cline said in the email.

He said the school division and RCMP have been working together through a “structured risk assessment process.”

“During this time, it is important for the community to know that students and staff are safe and that the division remains in close partnership with RCMP to ensure continued safety,” the email said.

Look for more on this story in Thursday’s edition of The Brandon Sun.

» sanderson@brandonsun.com, with files from The Canadian Press