Police security still at Glenunga International High School weeks after a man was arrested over threats
School has still not returned to normal for students at SA’s largest public school, despite an arrest being made after threatening emails were sent.
SA News
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Armed security still patrols South Australia’s largest public school, despite bollards coming down and an arrest made weeks ago following threats to staff and students.
School had still not completely returned to normal for Glenunga International High School’s more than 2300 students on Thursday, with police security stationed around its perimeter.
Between November and February, the school received 13 threatening emails, allegedly from the man, causing fear within the school community and prompting extra security measures to be put in place.
The bollards were initially placed at the school in February after Glenunga International High School principal Wendy Johnson notified its community of “unpleasant emails”.
They were taken down last month, but police security remained.
An SA Police spokeswoman said decisions were made about the security presence at the school in consultation with the Education Department and that it was “out of an abundance of caution”.
“Community safety, including that of the school community, continues to be at the forefront of all decisions made throughout the investigation,” she said.
“South Australia Police and the AFP are working cooperatively on this matter, which is currently before the courts.”
Previously, Acting Police Commissioner Linda Williams said that the school community was safer knowing the man had been arrested.
The man – whose identity is suppressed – was charged with two counts of blackmail and one count of making it appear food had been contaminated.
She said the school was first made aware about the threats from “very early on”, and that SA Police shared “a lot of information with them to the level we were able to”.
“We say that we have mitigated the threat significantly, and we’re very comfortable that the school’s open today and we have been working with the Education Department,” she said.
Originally published as Police security still at Glenunga International High School weeks after a man was arrested over threats
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