Gun At Joliet West High School Under Investigation

JOLIET, IL — In recent weeks, several Will County school districts have been vigilant and proactive about publicizing incidents of school threats and violent activities to parents, students and the community at large. However, Joliet High School Township District 204, led by superintendent Cheryl McCarthy, took a different approach when Joliet West High School had a gun incident on school property in recent weeks. Although the Joliet Police Department investigated the case, McCarthy decided to keep the issue under wraps. There was no information distributed to fellow Joliet West students, parents and the community at large about the matter.

Then, on Wednesday, 1340 WJOL radio broke the story, revealing a student had brandished a gun at the Joliet West High School parking lot on Saturday, Feb. 17. According to WJOL, police responded to Joliet West after one student got a Snap-Chat from another student holding a semi-automatic pistol outside the school earlier that day. "Detectives spoke with the individual in the video and were informed by the 17-year-old male that the pistol was in fact a BB gun," WJOL reported on Wednesday.

After WJOL published its story, the Joliet news radio station reached out to McCarthy to ask her questions about her school district's policies regarding when it sends out alerts and notifications to parents and others regarding threats of violence to her school buildings and premises. McCarthy, however, chose not to go on the radio for an interview Thursday morning. Instead, District 204 issued a statement about the Feb. 17 ordeal, a statement that makes no reference to the fact that any gun was involved.

Moreover, District 204 waited about 12 days before issuing a statement about the gun case.

Superintendent Cheryl McCarthy

Joliet Patch also reached out to District 204 on Thursday morning and McCarthy's director of community and alumni relations provided the following statement to Patch as well:

"JTHS was contacted by Joliet Police Department on Saturday, February 17th to assist them with an investigation they were conducting. Administrators worked closely with law enforcement as they investigated a Snapchat post. As a result of the information discovered in the investigation, students were disciplined. At no time was there any threat to students or the school.

"The safety of our students and staff is always our first priority. We take all instances that may jeopardize school safety seriously, and conduct thorough investigations.

"Our students, staff, parents, and community continue to serve as our best means of security when they 'see something and say something.' We will always investigate situations when they are reported and we will always work closely with the Joliet Police Department. We are thankful that this Snapchat was reported."

Go here to visit District 204 website

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Main image via John Ferak, Joliet Patch Editor