Park View Education Centre in Bridgewater. Photo: SSRCE.
The Bridgewater Police Service (BPS) says the lockdown at Park View on Tuesday was caused by a fake 911 call.
Deputy Chief Danny MacPhee says they were able to determine the threat was not credible shortly after the school went into lockdown.
“We were able to get a hold of the 911 audio the fastest I can ever recall,” said MacPhee. “Once we listened it was very muffled and possibly AI-generated, the voice couldn’t be linked to anyone at the school.”
The voice on the call was hard to hear but MacPhee says it indicated that someone either was harmed or was going to be at Park View.
While on campus officers searched the grounds for any possible threats, however, once the call audio was received they were stood down.
Shortly after noon, students were allowed to resume their studies.
When asked if he thought the threat could have been related to exams, MacPhee said Tuesday was exam prep day at Park View so it wouldn’t make sense to call in a fake threat to miss it.
The call was made on an unregistered phone, meaning it did not have a functioning SIM card and likely used the emergency call feature present in most modern cell phones.
Due to it being unregistered, there is no way for police to track who placed the call, so charges over the fake call are not expected.
