Hold and secure order to be lifted at Niagara Catholic schools on Tuesday following undisclosed threat

A photo of the Niagara Catholic District School Board's head office in Welland. (Goole maps image)

All schools in the Niagara Catholic District School Board (NCDSB) were placed under a hold-and-secure order for most of the day on Monday following an undisclosed threat, but things are expected to be back to normal on Tuesday.

In a statement provided to CP24, NCDSB said this morning it received an anonymous tip about a threat to at an undisclosed school.

“Upon receipt of the message, senior staff contacted Niagara Regional Police. Out of an abundance of caution, elementary schools were immediately placed in a hold and secure,” a spokesperson wrote.

All high schools with lunch periods were placed in an “increased state of security during that period” and were then placed in hold and secure “as quickly as possible,” the board said.

Any students at off-site at activities were directed to remain there.

Niagara Catholic also said that parents and guardians who wanted to pick up their children from school were allowed to do so, while students who remained at school were dismissed at their usual time.

In a tweet, NCDSB advised people to expect a police presence at some of its schools at pick up today.

The board said at 4:15 p.m. on Monday, Niagara Regional Police service advised them that they would continue to “actively investigate this threat,” which police said does not appear to have originated from within Canada.

Detectives with the 3 District (Welland/Pelham) Criminal Investigations Branch have been assigned to the case.

The board annouced late thi afternoon that the hold and secure order will be lifted for all of its schools starting on Tuesday.

“We will continue to provide the communities we serve with accurate, relevant, information as it becomes available,” NCDSB said.