‘School Shooter’ Threat at Skokie School Was False, Photo Altered: Cops

CHICAGO, IL - A photo of an eighth grade student at Oliver McCracken School in Skokie holding a BB gun with the words “School Shooter” on it was altered and tagged by another person.

But that didn’t stop several people - including other students at McCracken - from liking and sharing the photo on Instagram, according to a CBS-Chicago report on the incident that briefly had the community on edge.

Police have said there is no threat to the community because the original photo shared was of the student practicing shooting a BB gun in a backyard. Someone else found the photo on Instagram and tagged it with the “School Shooter” words.

An official notice from Skokie School District 73.5 to the community Sunday night indicated the person who tagged the photo will not be allowed in school on Monday. Police say they have yet to confirm the identity of the person who included the tag but have ruled out the original poster.

The district email included disappointment that some of the likes and comments on the photo came from other McCracken students who did not report it to the school or police.

One girl who saw the photo told her parents, who alerted police.

More via CBS-Chicago (Twitter: Bernie Tafoya @ChicagoFile)