Threat that put two Waterloo Region schools into hold and secure mode linked to the U.S.

Waterloo -

A day after two Waterloo Region schools ramped up security measures over concerns about a threat, police and a cyber security expert are offering more insight into a troubling trend.

On Thursday, St. Mary's High School in Kitchener and Jacob Hespeler Secondary in Cambridge were each put into hold and secure mode after an alleged threat on social media, which police say originated in the United States.

"Within a short time frame, investigators were able to determine that the threat wasn't viable and appeared to be a hoax that was circulating online," said Andre Johnson with Waterloo regional police.

Similar concerning incidents occurred at a number of schools across the country.

On Monday, a Snapchat post threatening violence to staff and students at a school by the name of "Central" went viral with multiple police receiving multiple calls for schools with names including "central."

In Ontario, police were known to be alerted in Toronto, Stratford, St. Thomas and Kawartha Lakes. In all cases, the threat was deemed not to be viable.

Police also received similar calls in Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan and Alberta.

Calgary police referred to the incident as a possible "swatting" event in the U.S.

"Swatting is when someone will call into the police department, typically to the emergency response department, claiming a fake crime in order to draw in the S.W.A.T. team to attack a particular target," said Michael Argast, Kobalt.io CEO and co-founder and a cyber security expert.

He said swatting is a growing trend started by gamers meant to distract their online opponents.

Earlier this month, a mall in British Columbia was evacuated and considered a swatting event by police.

In April, a 15-year-old from Saskatoon was arrested and charged in Louisiana after calling in a fake bomb threat to Princeton University.

"They will be spoofing their phone numbers so it is a little bit harder to track them back to the original source of the call," Argast said. "The reality of it is it’s not always phone calls, it sometimes can be online bomb posts or threats."

The alleged Monday threat involving a school called "central" was tracked back to Missouri, where police arrested three youths.

Waterloo regional police service would not confirm if the local incidents were being considered swatting. They also would not confirm if they are working with any other authorities either in Ontario or the U.S.

They said their approach is always to take any threat seriously and act immediately.

"We never like to cause panic or concern amongst the community unnecessarily, but I will say, is that the students and those that reported this absolutely did the right thing," Johnson said.