RCMP in New Brunswick confirm a youth who has been placed under a terrorism peace bond was previously arrested in connection with bomb threats that closed seven schools last fall.
The elementary, middle and high schools in the Fredericton area were shut down on Nov. 4, 2025, after an email was received that referenced “bombs surrounding the school(s),” according to Anglophone West School District’s superintendent, David McTimoney.
Staff and students who had already arrived at the schools that morning had to be brought to evacuation sites.
“We received a series of threats … a single threat, I should say, made to a series of schools. One that certainly captured our attention and required a response,” McTimoney told Global News on Nov. 4.
The youth, whom RCMP allege is part of the online extremist group 764 Network, is the second young person in the province to be under a terrorism peace bond. The first case was reported earlier this month and was described as a first for New Brunswick.
New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt says youth extremism is a concern.
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“It’s certainly something as a mom to three kids, including a now 14-year-old who is starting to get more exposed to the internet, I worry,” she told reporters last Friday.
Authorities say the online group known as 764 Network, or the COM, uses social media and online gaming platforms to spread its message and radicalize people.
The group is known to target children and youth by manipulating them into recording and sharing intimate images or taking part in acts of self-harm, violence and animal cruelty.
“In this file, the youth is believed to have been actively extorting victims to self-harm, making threats to schools in the province and in the United States, and to have been producing and distributing online material with the aim of gaining notoriety for the 764 Network,” RCMP wrote in a release last Thursday.
Last December, Canada added 764 to its list of terrorist entities.
The premier said the province has a role in tackling the problem of youth radicalization.
“This is not just a responsibility of parents, it is a responsibility of the education system, to make sure we’re informing and educating students … cases like the two that you’ve mentioned, they signal that more needs to be done,” she said.
Education Minister Claire Johnson says “ethical” and “responsible” use of technology is a part of the provincial curriculum, and something they’re expanding upon.
“Part of the education curriculum is the use of AI, the use of technology in an ethical, responsible way. And we know that technology is huge and it’s growing and it is a big part of our lives,” she said.
“We recognize that in the education system. So we’re looking to teach students how to use these tools as effectively and ethically as possible. It is a big part of the curriculum and we’re looking to continue doing that work.”
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