'Annoyed' Teen Charged With Snapchat Threat Against Lake Park

ROSELLE, IL – A Lake Park High School student faces felony charges for allegedly sending a threat over Snapchat directed at his school, prosecutors said Tuesday. The 16-year-old boy is accused of sending the threatening message on Feb. 23. Police learned of the message and the teen, whose name is not being released because he is a juvenile, was taken into custody on Monday, according to a news release from the DuPage County State's Attorney's Office.

Prosecutors said the teen decided to post the threat after becoming annoyed by talk over social media regarding threat on Friday that closed both of Lark Park's campuses, which are located on the east side at 600 Medinah Road in Roselle and on the west side at 500 West Bryn Mawr Ave. The threat was later deemed not credible, according to the Chicago Tribune.

The newspaper reports:

In response to the talk about the closing, the youth posted a clip on Snapchat of himself playing a violent video game and wrote, “Y’all need to shut up about school shootings or I’ll do one.”

The 16-year-old boy has been charged with two counts of disorderly conduct, a Class 4 felony, and appeared for a detention hearing Tuesday afternoon. He was released from custody and placed on home confinement until at least March 12.

“We take any threat to the safety and security of our students, teachers and school personnel very seriously,” State's Attorney Robert Berlin said. “With the recent tragedy of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School still fresh in our minds, we must do everything we can to ensure that students and teachers alike must never fear for their safety at school. With fear in our classrooms, teachers can’t teach and students can’t learn."

Berlin also said the Lark Park High School case "epitomizes the need for parents to be involved and to monitor their children’s social media use."

Photo caption: Lake Park High School - west campus/Photo credit: GoogleMaps