Nanaimo man officially charged for making fake 911 calls about school shooting
Thirty-four-year-old Aaron Edward Craig of Nanaimo has been formally charged with public mischief for allegedly making several fake 911 calls last week about a school shooting.
Craig appeared in Nanaimo Provincial Court on Friday and was also formally charged with breach of court order and breach of probation. He remains in police custody as of Monday.
The bogus calls were made shortly after 1 p.m. last Thursday. At that time, Craig allegedly made several fake 911 calls to the Nanaimo RCMP about shots being fired at a local school – and that there were multiple casualties. The caller did not indicate which school was reportedly involved, and only provided police a five-block radius in south Nanaimo.
Fairview Elementary and Nanaimo District Secondary School (NDSS) were immediately notified and placed in a lockdown.
Students at the elementary school had already been dismissed due to parent teacher interviews, and there were no concerns at their locations.
At NDSS, school liaison officers worked quickly to ensure that staff and students were safe and secure inside the school. However, no emergencies or suspicious activities had been reported at NDSS.
"When the officers involved were satisfied that it appeared the calls were a hoax, the investigation moved towards identifying who was responsible," said Const. Gary O’Brien of the Nanaimo RCMP in a statement Friday.
The North Island Operations Communications Centre was able to trace the location of the phone using cellphone technology and police databases. It determined who the phone was registered to and what vehicles were associated to the hoax caller.
By 2 p.m., officers were able to locate Craig, his vehicle and the phone on Howard Avenue.
Craig has been remanded until Tuesday Nov. 2, 2021.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Video shows suspect setting Toronto-area barbershop on fire
Video of a suspect lighting a Richmond Hill barbershop on fire earlier this week has been released by police.
'I have the will to live': N.B. woman needs double lung transplant
A New Brunswick woman suffering from sarcoidosis, a disease that limits your lung capacity, is in need of a double lung transplant.
The kids from 'Mrs. Doubtfire are all SUPER grown up now, and we're not OK
The adorable trio of child actors from the 1993 classic comedy 'Mrs. Doubtfire,' which starred the late and great Robin Williams, are all grown up and looking back on their seminal time together.
Police officer hit by driver of fleeing vehicle in Toronto
York Regional Police say they are continuing to search for a suspect in an auto theft investigation who was captured on video running over a police officer in Toronto last month.
Boeing is on the verge of launching astronauts aboard new capsule, the newest entry to space travel
It’s the first flight of Boeing’s Starliner capsule with a crew on board, a pair of NASA pilots who will check out the spacecraft during the test drive and a weeklong stay at the space station.
Britney Spears 'home and safe' after paramedics responded to an incident at the Chateau Marmont, source tells CNN
A source close to singer Britney Spears tells CNN that the pop star is 'home and safe' after she had a 'major fight' with her boyfriend on Wednesday night at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood.
Suter scores late goal, clinches series for Canucks
Pius Suter scored with 1:39 left and the Vancouver Canucks advanced to the second round of the NHL playoffs with a 1-0 victory over the Nashville Predators on Friday night in Game 6.
A Chinese driver is praised for helping reduce casualties in a highway collapse that killed 48
A Chinese truck driver was praised in local media Saturday for parking his vehicle across a highway and preventing more cars from tumbling down a slope after a section of the road in the country's mountainous south collapsed and killed at least 48 people.
TD worst-case scenario more likely after drug money laundering allegations: analyst
TD Bank Group could be hit with more severe penalties than previously expected, says a banking analyst after a report that the investigation it faces in the U.S. is tied to laundering illicit fentanyl profits.