A Nanaimo man has been arrested after making numerous fake 911 calls about shots being fired at a Nanaimo school and that there were multiple casualties.
The calls were made just after 1 p.m. Thursday, according to Nanaimo RCMP. They say the caller did not identify the school and gave a five-block radius of the location.
Police say they notified Fairview Elementary and Nanaimo District Secondary schools. NDSS went into lockdown while Fairview Elementary staff told police students had already been dismissed and there weren’t any concerns, according to police.
With no emergencies or suspicious activities reported at NDSS, Const. Gary O’Brien of Nanaimo RCMP said officers looked to find out who made the calls.
“When the officers involved were satisfied that it appeared the calls were a hoax, the investigation moved towards identifying who was responsible,” said O’Brien.
Police say the North Island Operations Communication Centre (OCC) used cell phone technology and databases to find the cell phone, figure out who it was registered to and any vehicles that were associated.
Officers located the suspect in his vehicle parked along Howard Avenue at around 2 p.m., according to Nanaimo RCMP. They say the 34-year-old was arrested for public mischief and breach of pre-existing conditions from previous files.
They say the phone the suspect used was also found.
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