Teen charged in Mt. Sentinel Secondary evacuation to get psychiatric assessment

A teenager accused of uttering threats that shut down his high school and postponed graduation will be sent for a psychiatric assessment, a Nelson, B.C., court has decided.

Denver Skey, 18, has been charged with two counts of uttering threats after officials evacuated Mount Sentinel Secondary School in the Slocan Valley, about 20 kilometres west of Nelson, last Friday.

In court, Skey was wearing a black T-shirt with black glasses and looked down for much of the morning proceedings. At one point, he asked for a tissue to wipe away tears. His parents were also present.

• Mount Sentinel school evacuated and graduation cancelled due to 'specific and targeted threat'
• Mount Sentinel students push on with makeshift grad celebrations

The evidence presented in court is subject to a publication ban.

The nature of the alleged threat has not been released, but the incident also cancelled classes Monday and Tuesday of this week and cancelled the planned grad celebration last weekend. Graduation has been rescheduled for tomorrow.

'Their day ... was taken away from them'

Students were allowed back into the school Wednesday morning to clean out their lockers and say goodbye to friends.

Graduation will now happen Thursday, though the postponement has been a disappointment for students and parents, including those who had family flying in from out of town.

"It sucks, especially for the Grade 12s," said Grade 10 student Jäger Boucher. "This was their day and it was taken away from them by people in their class."

"We just kind of hope ... it goes as planned and everybody is as happy as they would be."

In a news release earlier this week, RCMP revealed they learned of the possible threat a day before the school was evacuated and took Skey into police custody Thursday afternoon. 

Skey remains in custody and may face additional charges after the Crown reviews the case. His psychiatric assessment is scheduled for late July in Port Coquitlam.