JACKSONVILLE, Ill. (WAND) — A 13-year-old has been arrested for disorderly conduct and released to a family member following an investigation into online threats to Jacksonville Middle School and High School.
On September, 12, the Jacksonville Police Department began investigating the threats. Officials say there was a complaint of a student possessing a gun at Jacksonville Middle School. Detectives investigated with the JMS School Resource officer and found a 13-year-old student made statements to others at the school.
Jacksonville concluded their investigation after speaking with all parties involved after finding the teen did not posses a gun at the time, nor did the teen have access to weapons at their home.
Multiple districts in central Illinois have received similar threats over the past week, including an incident in Decatur involving an 11-year-old and 13-year-old.
The threats were shared across multiple social media sites. Shortly after the threats were reported, the Statewide Terrorism and Intelligence Center was able to deem them not credible. They say the online threats reported on the 11th were unrelated to the arrest of the teen for disorderly conduct.
The Superintendent of JMS released a statement to WAND News regarding this incident, stating in part:
"Here are the facts. A student did make a statement today after school, in anger, to a group of students that they needed to back off because he has a gun. The police are involved. They did a threat assessment of the student. It was determined that he does not have weapons and doesn’t have access to weapons in the home. Regardless, this student will face serious disciplinary consequences for his statement and for the disruption he is causing.
"While we are very concerned with his statement, we are just as concerned with the actions of many other students following this incident.
"One student shared with other students that he saw the gun. When later pressed by the administration he stated that he did not. He was spreading a false rumor. Other students started spreading that rumor also. The most disappointing thing is that this rumor continued to spread until it finally came to someone with a level of common sense that decided to contact an administrator. This was after the initial student left campus. The students did not give us an opportunity to do a search at that moment."
Law enforcement officials and school administration say they are committed to the safety and security of the students and faculty. They encourage anyone with information regarding threats at the schools to report them immediately.
Copyright 2024. WAND TV. All rights reserved.
