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The town of Hudson, Quebec, its places, people and businesses online.
Teen Arrested Over Hudson High Threat
The fifteen year old boy, small and slight, looked anything but threatening as he was taken into the Valleyfield court house after being arrested for posting a threat against Hudson High School on the Internet (see previous story). Police said they received several complaints over the week-end and arrested the boy at his home in Riviere Beaudette at 5:00 am Monday morning.
Hudson High students found the boy's posting and police were made aware of the threat even before the article publishing it appeared in an on-line version of the Toronto Sun on Sunday. Based on the message, which called Dawson shooter Kimveer Gill a saint and implied that a similar shooting would be carried out at Hudson High, police identified the author of the threats and proceeded to make the arrest. Police didn't want to take any chances in the current climate and will question the arrested boy to determine whether there was any substance to his threats. Police specifically refused to confirm rumours that weapons had been found.
About a third of Hudson High (Westwood Senior) students stayed home from classes as rumours regarding the threat and the arrest spread throughout the community. Police posted squad cars near the school and spoke to parents as they arrived. Many officers are from the area and at least one has children in the school. School Principal Michael Miller said he was made aware of the threat Sunday evening. A letter was sent home with students Monday afternoon and an assembly is planned when more information is available.
The boy who was arrested lives in Riviere Beaudette with his parents, two brothers and a sister. The arrest was made from the Surêté detachment based in St. Clet which has responsibility for the area. He was taken to youth court in Valleyfield where he was held overnight. His bail hearing today was postponed until Thursday because the boy's parents did not attend the hearing.
The Internet is full of messages and postings similar to what the fifteen year old was writing but the arrest sends a strong message that such specific threats will no longer be tolerated in Quebec in the current climate. It seems unlikely that the boy arrested here yesterday was planning to carry out any of what he wrote. It is a fact that many young people are alientated more than ever from a society they don't like and that many parents no longer know their children very well.
It seems inconceivale to many parents in the area that a son like Kimveer Gill could live at home and accumulate weapons without the parents becoming aware that there might be a problem, just as most parents would say they would know if one of their children became suicidal and was posting death wishes on the Internet. In a way, this incident has been a second wake-up call for parents here. Children need to be engaged in their families and in their communities or else a few become threats to themselves and to others.