- Police are investigating threats against 13 schools across New Zealand
- Some schools went into lockdown with students under desks, others evacuated
- Police do not believe there is any safety risk at this stage
- Several schools have been the target of bomb threats in recent days
- E whakatewhatewha ana ngā pirihimana i ngā kapatau ki ngā kura 13, i te mōkito, puta noa i Aotearoa
- I whakaherea ētahi kura me ngā tauira ki raro i ngā tēpu, me ētahi anō ki waho
- Kāore ngā pirihimana e whakpae nei he tūraru haumarutanga i tēnei wā tonu
- Kua pāngia ētahi kura e ngā kapatau pahū nō ngā rangi tata nei
The police cyber-crime unit is investigating phoned in threats made to 13 schools across the country on Thursday, on top of five more calls made earlier in the week.
Assistant police commissioner Bruce O’Brien said the threats spanned from just before 11am through to around 2pm.
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 in Palmerston North.
The threats could be coming from overseas, O’Brien told Stuff, but police hadn’t ruled out a domestic caller yet. Their cyber-crime unit was involved, and police were prepared to work with international partners if needed.
“We’re exploring all possibilities of the where the calls could be originating from,” O’Brien said.
“[It’s] really important for us to get to the bottom of where they are originating from, and obviously hold the person or persons accountable for these actions.
“They are creating a significant amount of distress to schools and students, and obviously parents. But it’s also the disruption to the operation of the school as well, which has a big effect on our students.”
O’Brien said this incident was “very similar in nature” to global “robo-hoaxes”, which saw New Zealand and Australian schools receive threats in 2016 and 2017.
Police worked with their international partners at the time, and the overseas perpetrator – based in Israel – was identified and held to account.
These type of threats did often originate offshore, he said, and people used tools like VPNs to mask their location and identity.
“That’s why our cybercrime team will be taking a significant part in this investigation.”
Earlier 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 said they were speaking with two young people in relation to this incident.
Tasman Area Commander Simon Feltham said emergency services wanted to stress the negative impact hoax calls had on the community, and resources that may be needed to respond to other incidents.
School responses to the threats
Grant Congdon, principal of Horowhenua College in Levin, said the school received a bomb threat about 11.10am. He said they were in the process of working out whether they would go into lockdown and couldn’t give any more details. People at the school had to stand out in the field in the wind and rain, and students were sent home early, a member of the school community told Stuff.
Emergency services at Wakatipu High School in Queenstown, which was evacuated on Thursday.
‘This is scary’
Awatapu College in Palmerston North was evacuated on Thursday morning. An Awatapu student, who wanted to remain anonymous, said a teacher came into their class to tell students there had been a bomb threat and older students could leave, while year 9 students had to wait in the gym before they could be picked up by their parents.
The student said they were not too concerned, but the teachers looked concerned.
John Bisset/Stuff
Police at Geraldine High School on Thursday morning.
“A few kids did say ‘this is so scary’. I don’t know if they were serious or not.”
Awatapu College later posted an update on social media saying police had cleared the site and school activities would resume as normal the following day.
Geraldine High School went into lockdown. A parent who had two children there said both texted her saying students were under desks and against walls. One child had said their teacher shut the blinds.
Stuff
Wakatipu High School in Queenstown evacuated students and staff from buildings about lunchtime on Thursday after receiving a threat – one of many schools targeted across the country.
Students at Wakatipu High School in Queenstown were evacuated from the buildings and congregated on the fields about lunchtime. They later returned.
Wakatipu High School notified parents that Thursday’s evacuation was due to the school receiving a call that contained a bomb threat.
“We believe the call was automated and from an overseas number. The police advised us that there had been over 20 such calls,” the notification said.
Matthew Hampson/Stuff
A threat was made regarding Marlborough Girls’ College on Wednesday afternoon.
Masterton girls’ school St Matthew’s Collegiate went into lockdown just after midday after also receiving a threatening phone call. The school was not evacuated.
Parent messaging system partly fails
The principal of the South Canterbury school that received a phone threat on Thursday says while evacuation procedures went ‘’extremely’’ well, he was disappointed an automatic alert system did not work properly.
The school’s principal, who is also the Aoraki Secondary Principals’ Association chairman, Simon Coleman, said the school went into lockdown about 12.30pm after they received a call from an unknown person making a threat towards the school.
“We hit the lock-down button after we called the police when we were made aware of the threat,” Coleman said.
“The police were on site fast, and we are quite lucky that our police station is not too far away from the school.”
Once police arrived at the school, students and teachers were evacuated to Kennedy Park, a few metres from the school.
He said a system the school has in place where a message is sent to caregivers and parents alerting them of the situation partly failed, as some did not receive the message about the lockdown.
“I got two emails and a few phone calls about it,” Coleman said. “It’s disappointing, and we’ll be having a word with our IT company to make sure it does not happen again.”
Parents debate sending 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 NZ police, and they are now investigating this incident, and we are supporting them,” she said in the email.
“I understand this may concern you, and please be assured that both the police and I take this matter very seriously. The police have no concerns for the safety of the students and staff attending school [on Thursday].”
However, parents on Wednesday night were discussing on social media whether to send their daughters to school on Thursday.
One parent, who wished to remain anonymous, told Stuff she didn’t send her daughter to school on Thursday, and was concerned about being informed several hours after the incident.
“I feel as though parents of the school should be well-informed of the threat that was made,” she said.
Lynch told Stuff on Thursday she “completely” understood the threat was a concern to parents and said it was a “significant concern to me and our staff”.
“But I would say that I have full confidence in the police, in their approach, and they have assured us that students and staff are safe to attend school today, tomorrow and beyond.”
She was unable to provide more details about the threat itself, as she said she was following advice from police not to share any further information, “as any sensible person would”.
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