Swatting Incidents Prompt Heavy Police Response to Two High Schools

Two Chicago High Schools on Lockdown After False Threats

False threats of violence Wednesday afternoon at two Chicago high schools prompted SWAT responses and lockdowns, but both cases were determined by police to be unfounded.

Incident at Jones College Prep

About 2 p.m., officers responded to calls of a bomb threat and someone with a gun at Jones College Prep, 700 S. State St., in Printer’s Row. Forty minutes later, a similar threat was made against John Hancock College Prep at 5437 W. 64th St. in Clearing, Chicago police said.

Lockdown and Investigation

Both campuses were placed on lockdown as officers swept the schools. The threats were deemed not credible, police said.

Incident at John Hancock College Prep

Joe Bird, deputy chief of the Chicago Police Department’s Central Control Group, speaking to reporters outside Jones College Prep, said the incident at that school appeared to be a “swatting” incident, a false emergency call intended to draw a heavy police response.

Consequences of False Threats

“We want to assure the public that the threats made at Jones College Prep today were not bona fide,” Bird said, adding that the threat against Hancock was also false.

He said that making such threats to schools “frightens everybody. It frightens the students, the administrators, the community. That’s why the officers responded as swiftly as they did. We had the resources on scene to clear the school and ensure that everybody was safe.”

Students’ Reaction

Kenzie Hauppa, a junior at Jones, said that when students were informed about the lockdown over the school’s PA system they thought it was only a drill because they weren’t given details about the situation.

Kenzie and her classmates were told to stay in their classrooms. She realized the situation wasn’t just a drill when a team of officers with “big guns” entered the classroom and asked if “anyone was a threat.”

A teacher at Jones said a SWAT team cleared the school room by room. Some students were told to wait in hallways as police searched classrooms. Bomb-sniffing dogs were also brought in.

Kenzie said she became anxious when she saw the police and still hadn’t been told why the school was on lockdown.

“It was scary, and seeing police officers come into the classroom with these big guns and not knowing what is going on at the school was very nerve-racking,” she said.

They had been locked down in their classroom for 30 minutes before Kenzie said she received an email from Principal Kerry Dolan explaining what prompted the lockdown.

“Our school received an email from an unknown source with language that resembled a potential safety threat,” Dolan said in an email to students and parents. “We take all potential threats extremely seriously and notified the Chicago Police Department and the CPS Office of Safety and Security for support. We also placed our school on a hard lockdown out of an abundance of caution. CPD investigated this situation further, and they determined the potential threat to be non-credible. There is no safety threat to our school, and all of our students and staff members are safe.”

Fear and Disappointment

Kenzie said she was relieved that the threats at her school weren’t real, but she hopes that in the future the school is more forthcoming with information to students.

“It’s kind of scary going on lockdown thinking it’s just a drill, but then you find out that it’s not when you see all these police walking around your school,” she said.

Conclusion

The incidents at Jones College Prep and John Hancock College Prep are a reminder of the importance of taking threats seriously and the need for swift action in response to potential safety threats. While the threats were ultimately deemed unfounded, the situation caused fear and anxiety among students and staff. It is crucial that schools and law enforcement agencies continue to work together to ensure the safety of students and staff.

FAQs

* What is swatting?
+ Swatting is a type of false emergency call intended to draw a heavy police response.
* What happened at Jones College Prep and John Hancock College Prep?
+ Both schools received false threats of violence, which led to lockdowns and a heavy police response.
* How did students react to the lockdowns?
+ Students were initially told it was a drill, but as police entered the classrooms, they realized the situation was real and became anxious.
* What measures were taken by the schools and police?
+ The schools were placed on lockdown, and police swept the campuses, bringing in bomb-sniffing dogs and searching classrooms. The police determined the threats to be unfounded.