Waubonsie Valley High School was one of many Illinois schools today to be the target of what are known as swatting calls, reporting false threats.
Call reporting an “active threat”
Indian Prairie School District 204 said in a news release that a call came in shortly after 8 a.m. on Wednesday, from someone claiming to be a Waubonsie Valley High School teacher. The person said there was an active threat involving a student offender.
When questioned by the dispatcher, the person on the phone hung up. Aurora police, the school SRO, and numerous school administrators immediately responded. After Aurora police did a search of the school, it was determined that there was no actual threat. IPSD 204 officials said the situation “was resolved in under ten minutes, and there was no disruption within the building.”
Authorities say the call seems to have originated overseas.
Similar swatting calls in 19 counties statewide
Illinois State Police (ISP) say they have received reports from law enforcement of calls about threats to schools today in 19 counties statewide. There were no active threats found in any of the 21 calls that came in.
In a news release, ISP said, “Law enforcement, public safety, and private sector security officials are encouraged to remain vigilant and report all suspicious behavior to local police agencies,” and added that each call is taken seriously.
Refrain from posting false information
District 204 officials asked parents to refrain from posting any false information on social media, saying that if there was an incident at a school, they would notify parents as soon as possible.
Full list of cities where swatting calls were received
As of 3 p.m. today, the following were all listed by the ISP as places where swatting calls about schools were phoned in.
- Champaign, Champaign County
- Chicago, Cook County
- Aurora, DuPage County
- Carbondale, Jackson County
- Murphysboro, Jackson County
- Mount Vernon, Jefferson County
- Vienna, Johnson County
- Dixon, Lee County
- Decatur, Macon County
- Granite City, Madison County
- Collinsville, Madison County
- Centralia, Marion County
- Bloomington, McLean County
- Jacksonville, Morgan County
- Peoria, Peoria County
- Pittsfield, Pike County
- Eldorado, Saline County
- Springfield, Sangamon County
- Freeport, Stephenson County
- Marion, Williamson County
- Rockford, Winnebago County
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