Bomb threat at Xinmin Secondary School leads to arrest of 15-year-old girl

SINGAPORE: Less than a week after Xinmin Secondary School in Hougang was evacuated due to a bomb threat on Aug 13, a 15-year-old girl has been arrested.

Fortunately, the threat proved to be a hoax, and the students and staff remained safe. Furthermore, the authorities found no suspicious items on the school’s premises, and normal school activities resumed later that day.

On Aug 18, while the Singapore Police Force confirmed her arrest, they did not give any additional details about her. 

The probe into an incident of communicating false information of a harmful thing is still ongoing. If she is found guilty, she could be given a jail sentence of as long as seven years, be fined as much as S$50,000, or both.

The August 13 bomb hoax

At 8:20 a.m on Aug 13, the police told the media that they were alerted regarding “a potential bomb threat” at Xinmin Secondary School. According to a report in Lianhe Zaobao, one of the teachers had found a note related to the matter in a Secondary 3 classroom earlier that morning.

By 8:28 a.m., evacuation procedures began, with teachers and school personnel bringing the students to assigned safety areas. 

Shortly afterwards, the parents of the students received a message regarding the incident on the Parents Gateway mobile app, which was developed by the Ministry of Education and GovTech. The app makes it possible for parents and guardians to have access to school announcements.

School principal Tan Soon Hui was quoted as saying that the authorities were contacted as soon as the school learned of the threat.

“All students and staff were evacuated to the school’s designated assembly area in a swift and orderly manner,” he said, adding, “The safety and well-being of all students and staff remain the school’s utmost priority. The school will continue to support the well-being of our students and staff and ensure that appropriate measures are in place to respond to emergencies.” 

Media reports said that some police were still at the school past 11:00 a.m. 

“The police take all security threats seriously and will not hesitate to take action against those who intentionally communicate false information on bomb threats,” SPF said in a statement. /TISG

Read also: Singaporeans breathe a sigh of relief after SG fighter jets spring into action from bomb threat on Air India Express flight en route to Singapore