A 21-year-old Merritt man is in custody after he reportedly threatened Merritt Secondary School this morning.

Cpl. Brock Hedrick says RCMP were called around 7:45 a.m. today, and he says they made the arrest shortly after 8 a.m.

“We did as a precautionary measure have two police officers at the front and back of Merritt Secondary School while we sought the suspects, so obviously they weren’t on scene at the school very long,” he said.

Hedrick adds police are hoping to keep the man in custody until his court appearance, and he says police will be recommending charges of uttering threats to the BC Prosecution Service.

“We were in discussions with the school district early this morning as to how we were going to go about this, but due to the fact that the suspect was taken into custody so quickly, I don’t believe the school had to be put into any lock-down.”