Ghent school evacuated after threats as police detain 15-year-old suspect

Threats delivered to teaching staff

On the morning of Friday, 11 September 2026, teaching staff at the Richtpunt Campus on the Henleykaai in Ghent received electronic threats warning of an imminent shooting and a bomb attack. The alerts were distributed overnight and early in the morning through the Smartschool digital communication platform commonly used across Flemish schools. Ghent police services received their initial alert regarding the incident at approximately 09:15 after school management discovered the incoming messages.

Provincial authorities representing East Flanders reported that several teachers found emails in their inboxes warning that a shooting was scheduled to take place on campus during the morning. A second message contained a bomb threat targeting the premises. East Flanders provincial deputy for education Kurt Moens stated that regional administrators suspected a student's personal Smartschool account had been compromised by an unauthorized user to dispatch the warnings.

Evacuation of the Henleykaai campus

Following the notification of law enforcement, school administrators initiated an evacuation of approximately 850 students across the campus buildings located near Ghent's railway station. The operation proceeded calmly and without incident. Adult students attending the provincial school were permitted to travel directly to their homes, while parents of underage students were notified of the emergency procedure.

Minors were escorted off the school grounds and accommodated at nearby cultural facilities, including the concert hall at the De Bijloke music centre and the neighbouring STAM city museum. Ghent police, dispatching both detective units and local neighbourhood patrol officers, cordoned off adjacent streets around Henleykaai. As a safety precaution, authorities also ordered the full evacuation of the adjoining Centrum voor Volwassenenonderwijs adult education centre while the perimeter remained sealed.

Canine searches and detention of a minor

Emergency personnel and specialized police units carried out a building-by-building search across the educational complex, deploying explosive detection dogs to inspect classrooms, corridors, and communal facilities. Investigators located no explosive devices, firearms, or other suspicious materials throughout the hours-long sweep.

Law enforcement officially lifted the security perimeter around the educational facilities at approximately 14:30. Students and staff received clearance to re-enter the Richtpunt Campus at roughly 15:00. During the mid-afternoon, the East Flanders public prosecutor's office announced that investigators had identified and detained a 15-year-old suspect. The minor was taken into custody to undergo formal questioning regarding the origin and distribution of the threats.

Regional policy context and provincial response

Kurt Moens addressed the decision to evacuate the school and noted that provincial authorities acted immediately upon receiving the reports.

“The evacuation went smoothly. We took the situation seriously from the beginning.”

The incident occurred one week after Richtpunt Campus drew regional attention over a newly enacted dress code policy. At the start of the academic year, the province of East Flanders introduced revised neutrality guidelines across all its provincial educational institutions, prohibiting visible signs of religious, political, or philosophical conviction, including headscarves. The directive had drawn criticism and objections from staff and students. Moens stated that there were no indications in the threat messages connecting the incident to the neutrality regulations, though the police investigation into the motive remains underway.