Minutes after more than 100 Highland Park High School students walked out of class Tuesday morning to call for a national assault weapons ban, five students were apprehended after one brought a gun to the school, authorities said.
A related school lockdown was lifted at around 12:30 p.m.
District 113 received an anonymous tip shortly before 10:30 a.m. that a student at the high school was in possession of a gun, Superintendent Bruce Law said in a statement. The school reported the tip to the Highland Park police department, which responded and called for the lockdown.
Another student also came forward and reported seeing a student with a gun, Law said. The student who had the gun was identified, and security footage showed that he left the school with another student.
The students were found and apprehended by police officers. The building was also searched.
According to an announcement from the city of Highland Park during the lockdown, there were “no reported shots fired,” and there was a heavy police presence at the school. A spokesperson for the Lake County sheriff’s office confirmed there were also deputies on the scene assisting.
After the school was searched, law enforcement officials determined it was safe to end the lockdown at the high school, as well as soft lockdowns at other public buildings, including city facilities, District 112 and 113 schools, the Park District and public library.
“Highland Park Police will continue the investigation in partnership with Township High School District 113,” the city announced. “
“I don’t want to die like this”
Fearing the worst while hiding with her classmates during the lockdown, junior Stephanie Diaz texted her family that she loves them.
“I don’t want to die like this,” she told the Tribune in a series of texts. “I don’t want to say goodbye to my family. This is the second time I have sent (the), ‘I love you, I’m sorry for all I’ve done’ text. When will this end?”
While she was hiding, Diaz said a young girl who she babysits texted her to see if she was OK. “She shouldn’t have to deal with this,” Diaz said.
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The junior, who was not at the Highland Park Fourth of July parade last summer — where a gunman opened fire killing seven and injuring dozens — said Tuesday was the second time she texted her family she loved them in case she was shot during school. The first time was a few years ago during another intense lockdown when Diaz was in eighth grade.
Later, Diaz shared a photo she took while locked down with classmates and a teacher in an art storage closet.
“I want to make people know that that’s what happened at the high school today,” Diaz said. “That’s what happened on the nine-month anniversary of our first mass shooting.”
Diaz has become a leader of the Highland Park and Highwood chapter of Students Demand Action, who organized Tuesday’s walkout.
“Just seeing all of the kids’ innocence lost from the Fourth of July just really devastated me,” she said. “They should be kids, running around … rather than (worrying) if they’re going to get shot up at school.”
As hundreds of students filtered out of the school Tuesday afternoon, Andres Rodriguez reunited with his children and surveyed the scene outside of the front entrance.
Dozens of police cars from various agencies blanketed Vine Avenue, and dozens more cars formed a line around the corner from the school on 1st Street as parents made their way to find their children.
Rodriguez said he saw police rushing toward the school once he arrived outside, but they did not appear “frantic.” He said he saw police search the roof, and enter the schools with heavy equipment.
“They came in with like their shields and everything,” he said. “It looked intense from out here.”
One student, who asked not to be named, described being locked down for more than an hour as authorities searched the school and eventually apprehended five students.
“We sat in the corner and they were like, ‘Guys be quiet, stay off your phones because you’re not supposed to use your phones in a hard lockdown,'” the student said. “So then we sat, and we just like waited there, and then there were updates, messages.”
Political leaders react
In a statement Tuesday afternoon, Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering thanked first responders for their rapid reaction, encouraged people affected to call 211 for trauma support or to visit 211LakeCounty.org, and called for legislative action to prevent gun violence.
“While we were so relieved that the event ended without incident, once again, our community was terrorized by the threat of gun violence,” Rotering said.
“We must continue to work toward a time when we can live free from the threat of gun violence,” she said. “Those who can, need to take action now, so that our students can go to school without fear of random gun violence. Wherever and whenever they occur, every lockdown, every drill takes a toll on our children and our communities.”
State Rep. Bob Morgan, D-Deerfield, wrote on Facebook during the lockdown that he was “praying for an all clear, and heartbroken for the trauma these students continue to endure in an era of mass shootings.”
Lake County Clerk Anthony Vega said in a statement Braeside Elementary School and Red Oak Elementary School also went into lockdown due to the heavy police presence at the high school, along with the Highland Park Public Library. The lockdowns subsequently stopped all voting services at the elementary schools and library.
“At the point of the lockdown being lifted, our office will petition the court to extend voting for the same length of time as the lockdown,” Vega said in the statement.
Voting hours were extended at those sites until 8:35 p.m. to compensate for the lockdown period.
All after-school activities and athletics at the high school Tuesday were canceled.