Auckland schools email threat: Two taken into police custody, firearm charge laid against 20-year-old man

Two people have been taken into custody as police continue to investigate a threatening email directed to two Auckland schools yesterday.

Police said two schools were targeted by “emails of a concerning nature” and forwarded to other organisations, resulting in Waiuku College going into lockdown before 9am yesterday. The email was also forwarded to numerous organisations and individuals.

Waiuku College principal Stuart Kelly would not comment on the nature of the threat, but said the school, alongside police and the Ministry of Education, deemed it “credible enough” to put the school in lockdown.

Students exit Waiuku College on Wednesday after the school was forced to close for the day following a threatening email. Photo / Cherie Howie

Counties Manukau District Commander Inspector Alison Brand said inquiries by police into the origin of the email led investigators to a Māngere East address today.

A search warrant was executed at the address this morning, where a man and woman were taken into custody without incident.

“Investigation staff have been speaking with both of these individuals throughout the day,” Brand said.

A 20-year-old man has been charged with a firearms offence in relation to a firearm located at a different property.

He is expected to appear in the Manukau District Court tomorrow charged with unlawful possession of a firearm.

Meanwhile, Brand said further charges are likely to be laid as a result of the search warrant.

“This is still very much an active investigation, and we are limited in further comment at this stage.”

Waiuku College students were forced to shelter in a “safe and secure area” on Thursday morning as police swept the school for potential dangers, principal Stuart Kelly said.

“The police then swept the remainder of the school and we received written confirmation that it was safe to return the students and in looking after the students’ health and wellbeing ... [we] made the decision to send the kids home,” Kelly said.

Waiuku College principal Stuart Kelly. Photo / Cherie Howie

He said the Ministry of Education’s (MoE) Traumatic Incident team would be at the school today to support students and staff and address any concerns.

Rutherford College principal Gary Moore said his school also received a threat yesterday and immediately contacted police and the MoE.

Moore said the school did not need to close or go into lockdown due to police presence and efforts, including sniffer dogs.

“We were confident that there were no risks to the safety of students, staff or the community... but would not have hesitated had either of these actions been prudent.”

Police acknowledged the impact events like this would have on parents and the wider school community.

“Any threatening message directed towards our educational institutions is taken seriously and police have worked diligently to get to the source of this email.”

A Waiuku College parent, who wished to remain anonymous, yesterday told the Herald there was speculation about why the school went into lockdown, but no one had been given any information.

She said parents were told the students were safe and then she received a call from her daughter asking to collect her.

Her daughter said they were rushed into class at 9am, 15 minutes before the bell.

Then at 11am, students were made to go to their whānau classes where they were able to call their parents.

The mum said she assumed school ended for the day for parent’s “peace of mind”.

Concerns about timeline of lockdown

It came after parents shared concerns that the school entered lockdown after many children had already arrived, despite the email being sent early this morning.

Another parent, who wished to remain anonymous, told the Herald police were in front of the school about 8am, well before class began.

They said students and parents were not informed of the threat and were allowed to walk past police into class, before the school sent out alerts about the lockdown about 8.50am.

Waiuku College’s delay left “a lot of furious and worried parents”, and described the situation as “badly handled”, they said.

“They had at least an hour’s worth of time before classes started to contact families [and] keep kids home if they wanted to.”

Mother Amy Parker told the Herald she was “pi**ed off” that students had been taken into class while the school was under threat.

Her friend drove by the school during the lockdown and described police outside the high school with “massive guns” and parents parked at the adjacent medical centre in panic.

“No parent should feel like [their kids are] in the presence of an unsafe environment.”

Addressing criticism from parents, principal Stuart Kelly said he stood by the school’s actions.

“We acted as soon as we could … we couldn’t go into lockdown until we assessed it was a credible threat … [and] we were acting on the direction of the police – we can’t act unilaterally.”

He appreciated there were differing views, but said he had to think about the wellbeing of their school community of more than 1000.

“We did everything by the book,” Kelly said.

He’d sent an email to all parents explaining the school’s response.