Rumours that quickly spread on social media Monday night that two armed gunmen making death threats had Stz’uminus First Nation on a community lockdown are not true, according to Ladysmith RCMP.
Staff-Sgt. Ken Brissard confirmed to the Chronicle on Tuesday that officers did investigate a call received from Stz’uminus, but that there was no evidence to back up the alleged story.
“We did an investigation based on something that was reported to us and there’s nothing to corroborate what was reported,” Brissard said.
A Facebook post from just after 8 p.m. on Monday, which was shared more than 150 times before being deleted, indicated Stz’uminus had been placed on lockdown because “2 random non native psychopaths are going around with guns threatening to kill people in our community.”
Brissard said he could not provide specifics on what exactly was reported to police.
“There was certainly something reported along those lines that was very dubious,” he said.
Brissard said RCMP have the ability to use social media such as Twitter or Facebook or through AM/FM radio “if there was something really urgent happening” and a lockdown was being enforced.
“Ladysmith RCMP didn’t lock down any communities,” Brissard said. “We certainly investigated something that was reported to us; that report is still being investigated.”