Crime & Safety
EPCHS Lockdown Spurred By Student's Tweet About Gun: OFFICIALS
No gun was found at Evergreen Park Community High School after school went into soft lockdown.
EVERGREEN PARK, IL -- Evergreen Park Community High School went into a “Code Yellow” or soft lockdown, after a report of a student possibly in possession of a gun. The student has been found and is currently being interviewed by Evergreen Park police.
Dist. 231 Superintendent Tom O’Malley said a parent called the school out of concern for a message circulating on Twitter. The message supposedly said that a student was reported to have brought a gun to school and showed it to another student. O’Malley said the student who was shown the gun put out the tweet.
“As soon as we received the call we went into soft lockdown,” the district superintendent said. “We wanted to ensure that everyone was safe and in no imminent danger. It was precautionary.”
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Evergreen Park police arrived at the school around 2:26 p.m., after the decision had been made for students to remain in their classrooms. Police were able to contact a family member of the male student. The student was not in school but was in a car with his mother, according to a police news release. The student was found and taken to the Evergreen Park police station for further investigation. Police said no gun was found.
After the campus was searched and it was determined there was no threat, regular student activities resumed. Students were allowed to leave a few minutes past the regular afternoon dismissal time, which is 2:51 p.m.
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“I never felt anyone was in danger,” O’Malley said. “In today’s day and age with everything that’s happened across the counter every situation has to be dealt with seriously to ensure that students and staff are safe.”
Athletic practices, games, events and other extracurricular actives were not postponed and will continue as scheduled Thursday evening. O’Malley added that the situation that occurred Thursday was out of the ordinary at Evergreen Park Community High School.
“Being here on a daily basis, we have great students and great staff,” O’Malley said. “Our kids conduct themselves in an excellent manner.”
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