Police: Students Weren't in Jeopardy During Incident at Lake Zurich High

say students were not in jeopardy at any time while officials investigated a outside on Monday morning.

"They weren't in jeopardy," said Police Chief Patrick Finlon. "They were in a safe location. There was no threat to them."

Some parents, including Lake Zurich Patch readers and commenters, have questioned the way the situation was handled Monday. Cmdr. David Bradstreet said Monday that police were called to the school at 5:59 a.m. after a report of a "suspicious briefcase-type package" near the upper lot of the high school. Police officials summoned a bomb squad from the Waukegan Fire Department to the scene.

Students arriving for classes that morning were gathered in the cafeteria.

The suspicious package later was determined to be an empty video camera case.

"Our guys took a very conservative approach to it," said Finlon. "You take each incident on its own merits. We're always going to do our best to ensure the safety of everyone else. We err on the side of caution."

Finlon added that "this was not called in as a threat of any type. This was strictly a suspicious item."

Jean Malek, director of communications and community relations for Lake Zurich District 95, said a parent at the school that morning called police to notify them of the suspicious package. She said the school has "early bird" classes that start at 7 a.m., so some students and staff were already in the building.

Police, Malek said, tried to assess the situation to determine if there was a real threat. She said when police arrived, they started trying to get in touch with building administrators. Malek added that an announcement was made over the school's public address system to find out whether someone in the building mistakenly had left the video camera case outside. No one claimed ownership, Malek said.

The was called in to establish a perimeter and block off access.

Finlon said that when deciding whether to keep students at school or release them, "you always have to take both sides. If you release the students, where are they going to go? The minute you release them, you lose all control."

Malek said police "deemed (the cafeteria) the safe place to shelter the kids. All three groups — police, fire and the bomb squad — were in agreement that the children were safe in the cafeteria."

Finlon said public safety officials determined that the cafeteria was a safe distance from the suspicious item, particularly since the item was outside.

"Nobody was allowed inside of an area where they would have been in jeopardy," said Finlon.