On Monday, June 13, Toronto police received a report of a threatening call received at a school near Mount Pleasant Road and Elm Avenue. The incident happened just before 7:30 in the morning and for a while resulted in Branksome Hall being put in a lockdown.
Police rushed to the scene and found that the threats were “unfounded”.
No injuries were reported.
The students, however, were sent home for the rest of the day.
That night, the independent girls-only private school sent home a letter to parents advising them that classes were canceled for the rest of the school year. The last day of classes for the school year 2021-2022 at Branksome Hall was Tuesday 14 June.
In a statement to CP24 at the time, Branksome Hall spokeswoman Liisa Stephenson said they decided to end the school year earlier after “carefully weighing the risks… against the safety of our community”.
He said Branksome Hall had arranged for exams and worked with parents and staff to “find creative ways to close the end of the year and celebrate our students’ achievements”. An on-campus graduation ceremony for 12th graders took place in May, while year-end ceremonies for 6th to 11th graders took place “mostly fictionally” this week, Stephenson said.
Toronto police arrested a 15-year-old girl on Monday.
The accused, who can not be named according to the provisions of the Law on Criminal Justice for Youth, was charged with death threat, public disturbance and transmission of false messages for the purpose of alarm. He has a court hearing on August 15.
Anyone with more information should contact the police at 416-808-5300 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-8477 (TIPS) or www.222tips.com.
