Death Threats To Western Springs Girl: Cops

WESTERN SPRINGS, IL — Three students at Nazareth Academy in La Grange Park were charged earlier this month in connection with making death threats to another student, police said.

One of the suspect's parents labeled the threats as "just a prank that got way out of hand," authorities said.

A 17-year-old boy from Western Springs and 16-year-old and 17-year-old boys from Westchester were given disorderly conduct citations in Western Springs. The victim was a 17-year-old Western Springs girl, police said.

The police report said Nazareth Academy's principal told officers the school would seek the suspects' expulsion.

Patch obtained the police report through a public records request.

On Jan. 28, the girl and her mother went to the Western Springs police station to report the phone threats. She had made recordings of the calls.

The calls consisted of threats such as "I'm going to kill you in biology class" and "I'm going to shoot you," according to the police report. The callers said they had guns such as Glocks and AK-47s, police said.

She told police that her house was egged in November and that the boys threw coins at her car and then ran her off the road in late January.

She gave police a list of possible suspects. When police contacted one of the boys, it turned out her list largely matched the boys who stayed overnight in the basement at one of their houses, the report said.

When an officer asked one of the boys about the threats, he responded, "We are 16. We don't mean any harm. It's not like we have access to weapons, and it was just joking," according to the report.

He said he told the girl over the phone she was a "stupid b----," police said. After that, he said he left his phone unattended with no pass code required, the report said. He suggested others made the calls on his phone, police said.

According to the report, the boy's father told police, "Kids make stupid mistakes. Let's keep this as a lesson learned, make it a wash. It was just a prank that got way out of hand."

In a phone call with police, a suspect's mother told an officer her son said it was one of the other boys that said something about a gun. She said she thought the matter was over with.

In his report, the officer noted that he had not mentioned anything to the mother about a gun or what was said during the prank calls.

The mother later called to say she and her son refused to go to the police department to discuss the matter, the report said. Asked why, she would not say.