A 16 -year -old boy was accused after the police said he threatened with the High School in Halifax.
At a press conference on Thursday, the regional police chief of Halifax, Don Maclean, said that the police received information from the threat against the school and immediately acted in this regard, arrested the child without incident around 3 in the morning on Wednesday at his home in Halifax.
“I know this is alarming, and today I am here to ensure that our officers have been working 24 hours a day to ensure that students can go to school feeling safe,” Maclean said.
“While it is natural to react to these types of events with fear, it does urge people to also react with compassion. Young people who consider violence as their last resort have faced their own struggles and can be difficult to understand.”
The child, whose identity is protected by the Youth Criminal Justice Law, made an appearance on Thursday afternoon in the Youth Court of Justice.
Speaking in court, the prosecutor of the crown Terry Nickerson claimed that the defendant called a direct suicide prevention line and said he wanted to open fire in the secondary school of the citadel before taking his life. The operators of the direct line called the Police, who went to the child’s house and arrested him.
A later search found weapons, including firearms and ammunition at home. Firearms were all legal and stored properly, Nickerson said, but caused concern due to the alleged threat, so the police confiscated the weapons.
Nickerson said the adolescent’s electronic devices were seized, but they had not yet been unlocked.
Teenager to remain in custody
The child was sent to custody to a bail audience next Wednesday. You should not have contact with any student in Citadel.
Initially, the Police said Thursday morning that he was accused of possession of a prohibited weapon without a license, but then said Thursday afternoon that he did not face that position.
Police also initially said that he faced two positions of possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose, but then said it was actually just a position.
Nickerson told CBC News that the weapon in question is a set of brass knuckles.
The child also faces an insecure storage charge of ammunition and a position to pronounce threats.
Police said in a press release that they would have a presence in high school on Thursday to support students and staff.
While the investigation is “continuous and complex,” the police said that investigators do not believe that there is a current threat to school and does not believe that no one else is involved in the incident.
The regional police chief of Halifax, Don Maclean, speaks with the journalists on April 24, 2025, about the arrest of a 16 -year -old who faces charges after the police say he threatened to bring weapons to Citadel High School in Halifax.
In a statement, a spokesman for the Regional Center for Education of Halifax (HRCE) said the Police contacted the administrators of Citadel High School on Wednesday with information about a potential threat aimed at school.
“As always, the security of the students and the staff is HRCE’s main priority,” Lindsey Bunin wrote. “All potential threats are taken seriously.”
Bunin said school counselors are available for students who wish to connect at any time.
Nan McFadgen, president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) in Nueva Scotia, said the incident has left many school employees shaken.
CUPE represents 5,000 school support employees throughout the province, including custodians, bus drivers and assistants of educational programs.
“It’s scary, it’s worrisome,” McFadgen said in an interview on Thursday. “I think everyone, all the new Scotland, realize that this could have ended in a different way, and they are all grateful not to have done it.”
McFadgen said that many school employees face violence at work, but this looks like an escalation.
“In particular for us here in Nueva Scotia … it is not something we often think, weapons and armed violence,” he said. “Therefore, it tends to add another level to the experience for workers.”
Peter Day, president of the Union of Teachers of New Scotland, said in an interview with CBC Nova Scotia News at six that schools face “so many mental health problems.
“Our school psychologists, our school advisers, these teachers, specialists who work with our students day after day, are overwhelmed and struggle to meet the needs of these students because the cases are very high,” he said.
Citadel High School is located in Trolope Street in the heart of the city. In 2023, he had a student population of 1,530.
The teachers said that the frustrating of what the police are calling a “credible” threat to bring firearms to Citadel High in Halifax further underlines the issue of security in schools. Look at Tom Murphy with Nstu Peter Day president.
If you or someone you know are fighting, this is where to look for help:
