OPS ‘aware of threats made to various institutions in Ottawa’

The Ottawa Police Service (OPS) said it has been made aware of “a series of threats made to various institutions in Ottawa” on Wednesday, Nov. 1.

The Ottawa Jewish Community School received an anonymous bomb threat on Tuesday, Oct. 31.

“Officers were deployed, and investigators have been engaged,” the OPS said in a statement on X. “We are taking these incidents seriously; however, there is currently no threat to public safety.”

In a statement released to the public, Eric Stubbs, chief of the OPS, said “in the past days and weeks several concerning hate-motivated criminal incidents including graffiti, vandalism, hate mail, threats and a potential threat to public safety (later deemed unfounded through investigation) have been reported to police.”

Stubbs noted that the majority of the incidents are targeting members of Ottawa’s Jewish and Muslim communities.

“Hate speech, symbols and other hate-motivated incidents are unacceptable,” said Stubbs in his statement. “Those incidents can have a lasting impact not only on those who have been targeted, but throughout the neighbourhoods and communities where they occur.”

While there has been no reports of possible connections, the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) launched an investigation into multiple bomb threats across parts of northern and eastern Ontario on Wednesday, Nov. 1.

The OPP said several schools under different school boards and other facilities are being targeted with a demand for payment.

As a precaution, many targeted schools and facilities have closed as the investigation continues.

Schools in the Conseil scolaire de district catholique de l’Est ontarien (CSDCEO), have been evacuated.

The Cornwall Police Service said it is aware of the current situation involving the CSDCEO “and are working collaboratively with schools.”