A Port Moody school had to be evacuated Thursday morning after police received a disturbing phone call.
At 8:28 a.m., Port Moody police said they received a call from a man saying he had planted three pipe bombs in Port Moody Middle School, he had weapons on him and was sitting in a car in the parking lot.
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Police contacted the school and staff immediately implemented their lockdown procedure while police officers searched the area to determine the caller was not actually on the school property.
Students and staff were quickly relocated outside the school to a safe zone, police said.
K9 teams with the Lower Mainland RCMP were also brought in, along with a K9 team from Metro Vancouver Transit Police.
At approximately 9:58 am, once the school was declared safe, students, staff and teachers were able to return to classes, police said.
Police said, at this point, it is believed this call was the latest in a series of “swatting calls” that have been occurring through the Tri-Cities over the past week or so.
A swatting call is when someone states that a violent crime involving a weapon is occurring at that moment and direct police to a specific address. Most calls seem to originate outside the country, police said, and this call remains under investigation.