A juvenile suspect was arrested Tuesday after a shooting threat at Crete-Monee High School was shared on social media, Crete-Monee School District 201-U and the Crete Police Department said in a joint news release.
Crete police were notified Monday evening of a potential threat to the high school, and immediately began investigating, according to the news release.
Crete police Chief Scott Pieritz shared an image that appeared to show a screenshot of a YouTube live chat during a high school football game, with a series of concerning messages sent by one user.
“Don’t be at crete tuesday at 9AM,” one message said. “Gone be a real movie.”
In a subsequent message, the user said they would be “putting my AR to work.”
As the post circulated, several parents were disturbed and said they would be keeping their children out of school Tuesday morning, according to the news release. The Police Department and school district worked together to develop a safety plan for Tuesday that included a heightened police presence, police said.
Police arrested a juvenile suspect Tuesday morning at home on a charge of felony disorderly conduct, according to the news release.
Police said a search revealed the suspect, a student at Crete-Monee High School who they did not publicly identify, had no immediate access to guns.
“At this time, all information received indicates this was only a verbal threat,” police said. “However, the police department considers even verbal threats of this nature extremely dangerous, disruptive, and disturbing.”
The school district did not respond to inquiries about how many students were absent on Tuesday.
The threats comes three weeks after school threats in Tinley Park and Oak Forest.
A Tinley Park teenager was charged Sept. 23 with a felony for threatening a shooting at Central Middle School, a day after Oak Forest High School was locked down when a caller claimed he was in a school bathroom with guns and a homemade bomb.