Holy Names high school cleared by police after bomb threat investigation

Windsor police say Holy Names Catholic High School has been cleared after a bomb threat investigation.

Officers were called to the school at 1400 Northwood Street at 11:09 a.m. on Friday.

Around 2 p.m., police say staff and students were able to return to the school. The roads in the area have been reopened.

Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board (WECDSB) spokesperson Steven Fields said police conducted a thorough search of the building.

“After consulting with the Windsor Police Service, we have decided to allow staff and students to re-enter the building, retrieve their personal belongings, and be dismissed for the remainder of the day,” said Fields.

Students who must remain at the building to wait for transportation were asked to go to the cafeteria where they will be supervised by school staff. Those students with special needs will be supervised until their transportation arrives at usual pick-up times.

“We want to assure parents that the safety of our students and staff is our most important priority, and throughout the course of the day, we have done our absolute best to take care of them, and to keep you informed about the situation,” said Fields.

Fields said they provided students with water and snacks, and two Transit Windsor buses were brought in to provide shelter for those students who required it.

Holy Names Catholic High School in Windsor, Ont., on Friday, Sept. 16, 2022. (Sanjay Maru/CTV News Windsor)

A voice message was sent to parents about the current plans for re-entry.

In response to concerns that parents did not receive a voice message regarding the incident until after the situation was over, Fields said in a statement to CTV News Windsor that a total of three messages were sent to parents as the situation unfolded. 

"We did our absolute best to keep parents apprised of the situation as it was evolving. People need to appreciate that this was a very fluid situation. If parents did not receive a message perhaps now would be a good time to check to make sure that the school has their most current contact information," Fields said. 

Regarding a concern that there was no designated pick-up zone for parents to pick up their children, Fields said that the school did not dismiss students until police had given the all clear to re-enter the building and retrieve their belongings. He added that that were were extenuating circumstances in which students were picked up, but everything was done at the discretion of Windsor police. 

"Hopefully parents appreciate that this was a very difficult situation for everyone involved and that school board administrators on site and school administration did their absolute best to manage it, with the safety of our students and staff being our single most important priority," said Fields. 

Officers say the investigation into the threat is ongoing, and anyone with information is asked to contact police.

— With files from CTV News Windsor's Sanjay Maru