Rumor-Filled Day In Darien, At Hinsdale South: Officials

DARIEN, IL – Two separate rumors in Darien made for an unusual morning Friday for local authorities.

The unsurprising source – social media.

At Monday's Darien City Council meeting, Mayor Joseph Marchese asked Police Chief Greg Thomas to explain to the public what happened.

One of the situations was at Hinsdale South High School. A student posted on social media a photo of a police incident from a couple of months ago in another town, the chief said. That got passed around, with people thinking it was happening at that moment at South.

"We finally realized that this was not a new threat. It was a threat that occurred a couple of months ago from (the other) incident, so it was not an issue," Thomas said.

Around the same time, DuPage County's multi-agency SWAT team was conducting training at Argonne National Laboratory. Officers parked their personal cars at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Darien. There, they were picked up by a SWAT vehicle to go to Argonne.

Someone took a photo of the vehicle picking up uniformed SWAT officers and posted it to social media, which created alarm, Thomas said. Darien police clarified what was happening on X.

Because the training occurred within Argonne, the laboratory made all the notifications, he said.

Alderwoman Mary Sullivan said the SWAT team has previously posted a sign near the entrance of Mount Carmel when officers parked their cars there, helping eliminate rumors.

"It was ironic that it was happening at the same time there was an uncredible threat at the high school," Sullivan said. "I was looped in with some parents who still have kids at South. Kids were leaving school. It was Friday the 13th. It really escalated. People were asking me what was going on at Mount Carmel."

She added, "If it had happened on any other day, people wouldn't have thought twice. But because it was happening at the same time in the morning when things were going on at the high school, people drew a lot of wrong conclusions."

On Friday, Hinsdale High School District 86 issued a statement to South families, but not the media. The district released the document Tuesday upon Patch's request.

"At around 8 a.m. this morning, Hinsdale South became aware of a threatening post circulating on social media that mentions violence at 'Central' and 'South,'" the district said to families. "We quickly learned that the post mirrors and aligns to social media posts that have circulated in nearby communities and at schools across the country."

South immediately deployed its weapons detection system and checked all bags upon entry, the district said.