Big "thanks" to all law enforcement involved for making sure everyone was safe.
Great job!

Glad to know all is well there. I was on my way to Walgreen's when I saw all the law enforcement blocking the parking lot entrances. As a mother of a freshman that was a very scary sight. Thanks so much to Will County and New Lenox police departments for keeping our teenagers safe.

What are people thinking these days? Either the person thinks it is funny to scare people in light of the Ohio (and other) school shootings, or they really want to hurt people. What a shame...

Thanks to all of the Will County and New Lenox police for taking care of things so quickly, HOWEVER....why is this already on the computer and in the news without any contact from school. So aggravating!!!!!!!!!!!!! Why did we spend so much on the Alert phone messaging system if we aren't going to use it!
Angie Zopf

This article is misleading and wrong.

http://lw210.org/030612LWC.pdf

I agree with AZ: should the parents have had a phone call from the alert system first?

parents were NEVER notified, which is WRONG!!!!!!

Does anybody know if this person has been identified, found, investigation continuing? Is everybody going to be leaving the school safely with this potential threat ongoing?

I was at work when I received a call from my daughter and my mom telling me what had just happened. (My mom took my daughter out of school after hearing of this.) In the break room where I first heard of this, I turned to a woman I work with who has a daughter that also goes to LWC and told her about it. She immediately called the school and asked about the "rumor". The girls at the front desk blew it off as no big deal and said that the kids who wanted to go home and not be in school are the ones who made this into a big deal and got to go home. When there is a threat for my daughter's life and her school is surrounded with cops who have guns drawn it IS a big deal. How dare they treat this as nothing of importance and that it was just blown out of proportion. My kid is not going back until I have some solid confirmation that is just a hoax. You have no problem using the automated system to tell me about a vote that just happened regarding electives for classes but you cant use that system to tell me there has been a threat on my daughter's life? Shame on you LWC secretaries.

Lisa I just talked to an officer who was there about a 1/2 hr ago and he said they do not know who did this but they are investigating it. He said he can not suggest whats the right thing to do- keep her in school or keep her out of school, so there seems to be some understanding from the police force that this is NOT just another day at LWC. What do you guys plan on doing with your kids tomorrow? Keep them in school or keep them out? I dont know if this could be some kid playing a joke, some nutcase making false threats, or someone planning on something for the near future???? Who's to be so sure its safe in the wake of the recent Ohio school shooting. There was a "trend" of copycat school shootings several years ago- who's to say its not happening again.

The only thing I can think is they didn't want frantic parents bum-rushing the school while they were still investigating. We're all normal here but I do know some over dramatic parents that may not use common sense.

Cannot get any actual verification of any arrests made from Will County Sheriff or LWC at this time.

I just spoke to someone at the sheriff's department, and he said police are still trying to track down the origin of the call. He said by mid-day tomorrow he will have a better idea whether it will be possible. He said there definitely were no guns at the school.

@Stacey do not blame LWC secretaries for not sending out an automated call. Their not even close to having that much authority to make that decision.

I hope whoever made this call is dumb enough to brag to their friends about it. He will be caught and should be punished severly. My son was in the school when the NLPD had the shootout behind the school a few years back so I know how scary this can be for parents. I'm glad everyone is ok.

Stacey. I would bet that it is a student. Kids today seem to be in a competion to see who can , I don't know, do the stupidest thing. If this was planned then other people knew. Doing something this stupid should be jail time. I had the wits scared out of me once and I feel for the parents. " Untraceable" phone calls are not as untraceable as people think. The call had to go through a local tower and the numbers are recordable at that source. The school was not able to trace it but the tower sure can. My cop friend told me this so I am betting he will be caught.

They're untraceable if the guy bought a throw away cell phone from 7-11 or stole someone else's phone.

Hinsdale had a similar case back in August... and they brought the FBI in. I am not sure what ever happened.. but the cops said it was a disorderly conduct case. Not much jail time.

I heard the events today from my daughter who is at college. She saw it on facebook and called me at work. What? I can understand not wanting to cause chaos and panic families and the students but NO information causes a great deal of stress. My daughter was sitting in the cafeteria. She said there were rumors of an armed gunman in the building. In this day and age of social networking, information--and many times--misinformation travels fast. Parents should have been informed.

I'm just glad that everything worked out and NOBODY was hurt. All the posts are really a mixed bag. First it's not really fair to blame any of the secretaries at the school. As someone mentioned above they really don't have the authority or probably didn't know themselves if things were ok or not. Imagine you called and somebody tells you one thing and God forbid but it turns out the other way? Second you can't blame authorities or school officials for not getting word to you faster than your daughter can text it to you because she got it from somebody who was there. I'm gonna throw this out there. " How many of you who have children at LWC got a text from them today saying there's things going on at school but don't worry I'm OK"?

alski, I did get a test from my son saying that there was a gun threat. Somehow, he managed to get that info from somebody other than school officials. As I continued to question him on if he was okay or if the school was on lock down, he replied with "I am ok, but the teachers have said nothing." His last text to me before I went to pick him up was, "there are cops everywhere mom, this is crazy" Who knows what was going through the students heads. If the school had it under control, than they should have put at least the students fears at ease
AZ

oh, and by the way, there has still been no contact from the school in regards to today's event.

My child at LWC, and his friends told me that the school didnt make an announcement about it, nor were they aware of the "lock down" until supposedly after it happened. My son said he saw parents coming in and out with their children, which to me is no kind of 'lock down' if people are allowed in and out. I could walk in, saying I'm picking up my kid, but be a nutjob who wants to blow everyo9ne away. You'd think after that threat, there should have been notification to parents ASAP! I understand perhaps not wanting to panic all the students with the details, but come on! It just doesn't seem to me or the kids I've spoken to that this was taken nearly as serious as it should have been. As a parent, I have a right to know if my child is even possibly in danger, a threat being made- I think is worthy of that! Especially in light of the recent shootings in Ohio, &(reports from several other parents from surrounding schools on:) the other weapons found very recently in schools ranging from a nearby Junior High to over to a gun found in a student's locker at JT Central.
I can only hope this was some stupid prank. But with the way kids are now a days, just walking into school and blowing everyone away, I seriously hope the school will be watching closely for the next few... days, weeks, ever! Also, kids don't buy guns at the candy store, so the parents who have weapons at home need to make damn sure they are locked up and NOT accessible in any way to their children!

My daughter texted me at exactly 12:17pm saying " Dad. centrals on lockdown. I heard there's police surrounding every exit have you read anything online about what's going on"? and she's a student at LWW and that was sent to her from a friend at Central.

To Angela first of all I am glad that your child and all the other students are safe. In light of the weekends events anything less right now would really be devastating for even more parents. I'm sure the teachers didn't say anything because they probably didn't know anymore than the students. Understand that at a time like that it's best left to the authorities to handle. The reason their top priority wasn't to start alarming parents was because I'm certain the last thing they needed on campus at the time was 600 moms and dads demanding they get into that school to find their children.We all know and I'm right there with you that there is no bond stronger than that between a parent and their child.

Also the job of authorities is to evaluate the situation. If a person called saying they had a
"lead" as far as someone looking to cause harm. Police would certainly have a little more information along with that. If an individual calls police and announces they are going to do it....it's probably a hoax. To date all of these tragic incidents came without warning. However with them suspecting that. They still have to respond and they did.

One final note.....I enjoy reading the Patch and replying to the posts. However it starts to get frustrating when every time you read a story here that in some way deals with law enforcement people are bashing the police. It wouldn't surprise at all if the youth of our community had absolutely no respect for them because it's obvious that's probably the message they get at home. Yet they are always there to take your reports of your cellphones and wallets and cash being stolen from your "unlocked" cars while they are parked on the street.I'm glad that one of the authors above mentioned the "shootout" a few years back at Central. When police pulled over that car for a simple violation and the driver opened fire without warning. Gunfire was exchanged two of our first responders were wounded. Central had after hours activities. Not one student came into harms way.

Being a person standing in an office when calls were bombarding the secretaries, they were doing the best they could. I saw someone come in and tell them there was not a lockdown and classes were running as they normally would. It didn't seem like they were making light of anything, maybe just trying to kindly reassure many different types of callers that their kids were ok. From what I could make out, many students were using phones and saying all sorts or things. These ladies were probably trying to make sense of it all because of what callers were saying to them versus what the school was telling them was true. I wasn't stuck there that long but I could clearly see what was happening. The secretaries are not the idiots, perhaps other staff could be considered so!

Their lack of information even at this time of night is what makes me nervous. Why arent they sending a message to us to help ease our fears? They called us about a stupid vote that I could give two craps about but they cant call to inform me of a serious situation at my child's school???? I dont know if we will ever get the answers we are looking for Lisa. And that's unfortunate.

For those that don't know-in crisis situations like this the police department will often ask a school to specifically NOT send out communications asap because of the possibility of escalation and interference in their work. You want to have beef with how the secretaries treated you? That's fine, I understand that. But LW followed the crisis protocol to a T. It wasn't an actual lockdown-they are not required to send out any special phone calls or emails. They posted a press release as soon as they could-after the police cleared the issue and advised everything was safe. My two kids at Central are safe, I thank LW and will county police for doing their job. There's nothing else to communicate: police are looking into the call (not LW's job and not their job to report any further as it is a legal matter).

Let's all take a step back and face some reality here. Anytime something like this happens, of course there is going to be mass confusion. Even if the school immediately sent out a phone message, kids would still be hearing things from other kids, sending different texts out-and guess what-parents would hear that phone message from the school and the different rumors going around, and there would still be confusion (phone message says it's fine, but then you get a text from a child that it's not, or hear a different story from another parent). Texts fly, facebook posts update instantly, kids talk. We can't get mad about "who said this, why didn't this person know that"

Anyone bashing Stacy Holland or Larry Wyllie or the secretaries: District offices are housed inside LWC. The secretaries are not behind bullet proof glass. There are also well planned and well practiced procedures to follow in case of an active shooter on campus. Students are briefed on those that concern them, and are well aware of them. For the sake of safety, I'm not going to get into them, but I will say that your kids were safer than the people you're insulting for not handling this properly.

I gotta say with Wyllie running things, I would feel pretty safe. LW knows what they are doing. I trust all those that work there.

Anyone reading these comments, have you ever considered for a minute that some of what you are reading is inaccurate? Everyone pretty much knew, including secretaries, that there was a threat of some sort. From what I saw, it appeared the public had all kinds of information and the staff had very little. Maybe there were some individuals that needed the comments to be a little less serious in order to get the point across that the kids were fine. Sometimes people don't stop to listen to everything being said. I heard them specifically saying during one call they were hearing all sorts of rumors from the callers and yes they did hear, blah, blah. and to please check the website shortly for accurate statements. Not all people are going to feel the same about how this was handled or hear all the same words over the phone. Emotions were accelerated and some of these folks were in the crossfire. In my time witnessing some comments made to callers, I did hear them saying they were being told all sorts of things and to please consider that rumors are going to get out of hand quickly because of Facebook & cell phones. Let them all do their job and put yourself in their seat during something like this. Being told to stay in the building, allowed me to see that students were fine and were walking down hallways in a very normal manner. I do not have a student there anymore but felt good about the safety of all involved.

I am done with this bs after this. Plain and simple, my child was pretty freaked out by all the police in and out of building. If Central had it all under control than at least explain that to the kids and put them at ease. As a parent, the minute there were drawn guns outside the scholol and helicopters above it became my business. I have ALL the facts as I have talked with both Whyllie and Princial Probst.

Principal Probst was very respectful to me and understood exactly where I was coming from. My point was simple, it may have been better for everybody to keep things as normal as possible on the inside, However, any parent driving past the school or at any surrounding stores around 11:20 saw a sight that no parent ever wants to see. At that point, I feel parents and students should have been notified. Agree with me or disagree, I really do not care. I went straight to the source and voiced my concerns and got the answers I was looking for.

one last note, for those of you wondering, there will be Will County Police @ the school today as well

The parents should have been notified!!! I fill out numerous forms at the beginning of the year with the same information...all included several phone number contacts...what are they used for?!?!?!?

In addition, this is "my" child...not yours. If my child is in any danger (prank or not) I have "a right" to know!

Mike White, you said a phone call was made, to who I have not received any information from the school what so ever. The only info received right or wrong has been through the computer and a very short call I made to the school. Not all parents have access to a computer and should not have to rely on that to get information regarding the safety of their kids at school. If you are talking about an automated call, it seems very odd it did not go to all the parents. It worked for the school board vote last week and for 3:00 am closings. The school system needs to put a stop to this and answer to the parents. LWHS is way over due to install metal detectors, anyone can walk in with anything, I bet they do and will. I have walked into the school at various times and no one has stopped me over the last 5 years.

You guys keep talking about "rumors" and how we were hearing some miscommunications and etc. If they sent out a call there would be no rumors and miscommunications. Period the end. As for LWC's little "post it" on their website- did they really think that's sufficient? I bet 75% of the parents don't even know that's there for them to read, which basically says "There was a call made by an unknown person who cant be traced who identified himself as having weapons to come to LWC and kill your child. We had the school on lockdown and since that person never came through with their threat, your child s "safe"." Yes thats a little dramatic but it is the bottom line. Several years ago when my daughter went to Spencer, there was an incident where a man supposedly was driving around in a white vehicle and may or may not have tried to steal a child off the street. It was a rumor that spread and they werent sure of the facts or how true it was but they quickly sent out an automated call regarding the situation to alert us parents that it MAY have happened. That's having respect to us as parents to let us just know what was going on,whether they had all the facts or not. That's ALL we are asking for from LWC- some RESPECT.

My son told me after school was let out that they were unaware anything was going on until they heard several teachers saying "we have a problem". He also witnessed a police officer with gun drawn checking backpaks inside the school hallways, and that several people had claimed that someone had brought a gun to school. I understand being a young adult, this may not exactly be the case, but he's not a dishonest kid. My concern is more towards, why weren't parents notified??? I think this should be a learning event for school admin and law officers. They need to correct anything that was not done right yesterday and plan for a "real" event...

My child attend LWC and if parents were called, what do you think would have happened? PANIC would have ensued. If there was a shooter in the school, what would parents do other than create chaos by flooding the school with calls and showing up to grab their kids? Leave it to law enforcement to handle it. Irrational parents would have not helped the situation. A follow up phone call or email would have been appropriate, but I do see they put a statement on the website.

Denise,

Not true, I walked in through the SSO office to go to the PPO office, no one was paying attention. The ladies/students behind the desk can not stop anyone from going into the rest of the shool. Anyone can and will walk right past them, we need to wake up !!!

The reason why the school didn't notify everyone after the fact is it would be kind of senseless to send everyone a recorded phone call saying there was nothing to report.Every time it snows do we get a message saying that it is snowing but school will be open? Stacey...who did they report it to??? Other students faculty?? Name instances. Certainly they were not reported to police. They may have found
emails and computer evidence later after the fact. as far as I know none of the school shooting to date were "announced" to the authorities or the school prior to taking place.Also I haven't read anything that gave a detailed account of how they were going to do it.I must have missed that article.Could someone post a link to it please. Also I am not missing any point. I am not making light of it. However the last thing everyone should do is behave like a "chicken little" running around yelling the sky is falling. Here's what we should do. metal detectors and armed police officers at every entrance to the school. Random locker searches. At the beginning of the year every parent MUST sign a consent form that their child can be searched at any given time ( after notice to the parents of course ) Drug and bomb sniffing dogs on every floor.Snipers posted on the roof 24/7 because somebody could break in after hours and plant explosives. They will have explicit orders to shoot to kill no questions asked. Staff will be supplied with mace and stun guns,.The whole nine yards

alski, The school needs to respond to the parents getting no info. No we dont want panic that is why people need to be notified as to what happened. The situation was taken care of before any of us knew about it. Then nothing but confusion and panic yesterday wondering if your kid was coming home or not. LWHS a simple call to the parents would have been nice, so glad the school board vote and snow cond. are more important. This I take as a warning to wake up, take precaution we can be the next school in the news with a shooting.

L Smith, there was PANIC anyway. Like I said, anybody that saw the police infront of the school with their guns drawn would panic if their child was inside. alski, you obviously haven't experienced all of the idiotic messages I have received over the years from the alert system...maybe not EVERY time it snows, but it is def overused!

Now I am really going to give you my opinion. These parents that are upset, are upset because their children were in possible danger. For all of you supporting the school, I have lost my trust in the schools in New Lenox some years ago, when my daughter who has a seizure disorder fell down a complete set of stairs.

This particular school did not follow proper "protocol" where an aide was suppose to be getting her from point A to point B. They could not say whether she had a seizure or not, never called an ambulance and even better, never told me she fell down the stairs until 2 days later when I questioned it after my daughter telling me. The response then was, "oh, no it was a scream that cleared our office". so EXCUSE me for not having complete trust in our schools. There are a lot of good teachers/people that go above and beyond to help our children grow. To them I show my appreciation as often as possible. This is obvious the place to voice our opinions, and I can respect everybody...but NOBODY will tell me whether I should or should not panic!

The only person to hold responsible for making the decision of an auto phone call to the parents is Wylie. He makes these decisions...The school doesn't do anything unless King Wylie approves...

it's obvious that a few posters have a "bone of contention" with the school based on previous experiences. One of you feel you should have received a call. Another claims the automated system is abused. Bottom line is they have a procedure to follow. Unfortunately it's not tailor made to meet everyone's individual request. I agree with "responder" that a lot of us here are speaking based on the hearsay and rumors that started within minutes of the incident. Some of the scuttlebutt I heard was. They found a gun in a locker. Then I heard it was a student who was expelled. That turned into it was a current student from special ed classes. Then two moms talking while on line at the Jewel could not believe that the police were not present at East??? Her reasoning was what if they called the threat to LWC as a distraction?? And in reality showed up at LWW instead?? Lisa you write that you called the Will County sheriff. Angela called principal Provis. I can't understand what else you want. An apology for it even happening? I agree with everything Lilly has written above. I think the best thing for some of the authors here is to either get on the school board because you obviously can do a better job.Or move to another district, or home school. We've armchair quarterbacked this enough.

And the majority of comments posted on The Patch pertaining to stories that involve the NLPD are negative.That goes for the NLFD also.Such as the ones that claim they didn't do enough to save L.A.Cafe?? I've gone back and have begun collecting them. I'm up to three pages so far. The most recent being that cops were to blame for the accident over this past weekend. That they didn't do enough to prevent it. They didn't patrol enough. They didn't enforce enough?? To be honest if every man and woman on our police force up and quit tomorrow to take a job in another town I would not blame them. Thank you New Lenox Police dept. and Fire dept. Thanks Will County Sheriff. This reader thinks you do a great job! I know in my heart of hearts that if "the shiz ever hits the fan" you will all be giving 150%

No one ever bashed the NLPD on this thread so whatever was said on any other thread is not my concern nor pertains to this matter. We praised the police here for their quick response so you can stop with the brown nosing.

Any body know what the policy/procedure is when there is a threat of violence to the school? or when the school is on lockdown about how/when to notify the parents and/or community? I do not see it in the student parent handbook

K we have one of the best districts in the country I'm a student at LWE and I'm appreciative of my school

Dear Jesus this is so ridiculous! How hard would it have been to record a quick message, AFTER THE SITUATION WAS FOUND TO BE UNDER CONTROL, say 2ish to inform parents that there was a situation that happened outside the school building, commend the fast action of the Will County Sheriff, reassure the parents that their children were safe inside the building and tell us that the investigation is ongoing and there is no further information at this time. If you want more information, contact....blah blah blah.

Isn't it funny how the comments from students are mostly siding with the administration?

Parents- You may want to take note of that. These kids know more about the procedures in place than you do. They trust the administration.

@Mike White. There is no written policy/procedure for when an outside threat is made. Please share your direct source if you have it where it is clearly defined. Perhaps if there was a clearly defined policy and procedure there would be less panic, confusion and blame. Schools are public entities and must declare their procedures. The schools are legally responsible for minors safety and must publish those procedures/policies in place to keep those minors safe and to prevent any negligence. The Will County Sherif and NLPD are not legally responsible for school safety and would have different procedures. As several people have mentioned there was no problem with law enforcement... Just with the school's response. Perhaps this will be an eye opener to everyone to show the loopholes in procedures and what best way to handle these situations.

Mike White you sure seem to think you know it all, and sure seem to think that you are the school spokesperson... Who asked you to take that role and where do you get off talking down to anyone else about anything? I am a LW alumni and I have a student there now, in fact I was in the school tonite. I will tell you this, I walked right into the school, walked around most of the area near the fieldhouse all the way to the cafeteria, back to the auditorium entrance, and guess what? The doors were unlocked at most entrances, and no one even asked where I was going. No one paid any attention to me... So, how safe is the school? I even passed the security guard in the hallway, and he is a nice guy, but he never asked what I was doing in the school. I'm not saying he should have freaked and called the cops, I had a reason that I was there. Just saying, don't go spewing off at the mouth unless you're the guy locking the doors and protecting my kid against bad guys...

First off, I wasn't asking for details or procedures, I just want to know what makes you think you are qualified to answer every question on here like you are the school's spokeperson? Do you work at the school in the office? You keep spewing about procedures, and from all of your posts, the only knowledge you have of any of it is that of an ex student...

Secondly, I had a legitimate reason to be in the school, but... As I stated above, no one noticed. So I guess what I am saying is, the students are not exactly safe, are they? If I can walk through most of the school after hours, through dark hallways, with students walking around, who can't??? I hope some school official will take notice of that fact, and maybe make some changes. There is one security guard for the entire school, and if I'm not mistaken, he also has the duty to watch the West campus as well...

Thirdly, students are not allowed to travel outside the school during passing periods, so your info there is also wrong...

I would hope that LicolnWay admin will use this as a learning experience. I'm not saying they need metal detectors or armed security at every door, but hiring extra security people is a very inexpensive way to help curb problems. There is certainly a need for it. With as many people coming and going at all hours, the school needs to be secured a little better.

Mike, the only expertise you have is at BS! You think just because you are a former student, that gives you the right to act like you know more than everyone else. Well, sorry to break it to you....

If parents are concerned about what is going to happen in case of a "real" emergency, then they have a right to now how it is going to be handled. If it is such a secret, then how do you know anything about it? Because you are a know it all? You have responded to several posts here acting as though you are representing the school in the matter, when in fact, you are just full of it! Being a former student doesn't make you an expert at anything.

If Lincoln Way can't afford to pay for more security, then maybe some of their admin. should take a pay cut. I'm not talking teachers, I'm talking about admin making well over $100K per year. Don't cry about money... Yes, I am pointing out to the general public that the school doors are open, and to the several parents on this site who are concerned for their children. Maybe changes will be made...

Well Mike, I'm not gonna waste time arguing with the uninformed.. You have prooved that you are nothing but a know it all who thinks he has the right to tell parents not to worry about their kids. Well, We do have the right to know if our children are in danger and how its going to be handled if ever the case. So once you are a tax paying adult, maybe you will know where that money goes. I know what every person in that school makes, its public knowledge. So, have a nice day, and please continue to respond to EVERY post on here with your know it all horse shit!

So what you are saying Mitch, is that Mike White went to West??? Wow, that "proves" (<for the spelling professor) that he is full of shit. If you don't like swearing, stay off the adult forum Mitch. Its sad that you had to come to the rescue of your buddy and make both of you look stupid... Mike, West??? So what do you know about Central?? I should have known... Know it all...

Make no mistake, you still look stupid...

You spent one year at Central seeing as you graduated in 2011, which means your freshman year. I am sure you were privy to all that info being a freshman. My guess is that you were a hall monitor given your string bean appearance. I am not claiming I know any more than any other parent, but neither do you. Just because you ran around kissing up to the office personel does not make you an expert. You claimed your expertise was in the safety of our children... How? Because you spew out BS about nothing... Get a life, and maybe you should concentrate on whats going on at Truman U instead of New Lenox, where you thought you were the king nerd...

Never argue with an idiot. They will bring you down to their level and beat you with experience. I back up the parents in this situation. Mike White is a youngin who has the whole world ahead of him and needs a cause to argue. Maybe one day as he's growing up he will find a worthy cause worth fighting for and actually make a difference in this world. In the meantime, keep working on those debate skills Mike, because you do, in fact, sound like an idiot. If we stop, he'll stop, which is what I have been hoping for and yet still get updates on the arguing back and forth over a situation where the school could have easily sent out a quick call blast, pacified the majority, and probably calmed panic and fears, and this could all be done. Mike White, feel free to get in the last word, and I would hope that maybe the rest of us could just let him have that and move on. Take up the cause with the school board, the principal of the school your child is attending, or anywhere else besides arguing with him.

Mike White

9:22 pm on Thursday, March 8, 2012

You weren't asking for procedures, but other people were. And yes, that is my expertise. I'm a former student who graduated recently. I don't see how that has any bearing on what I say. It doesn't make it any less true or accurate.

Need I say more? Thank you Lisa. This guy has responded to every post from every parent that was concerned about their children with his "expert" knowledge of school safety. He is a know it all... This is going to be my last post as there is no basis to any of his comments.

When I called the school during the lockdown I was told " no nothing is going on. There is no lockdown". I tend to think if this story didn't break, none of us would have known. Good ol' LW and sweeping things under the carpet.

What I find sad is no matter who is right, as an adult Mr. Pro Streeter, why on earth would you be using bullying tactics in order to argue your points. Calling a young man a "string bean" and a "nerd" is just plain mean and has simply does not strike to any valid argument whatsoever. I think the point that has been very much forgotten is that once the police became involved it really was not up to the school to make any decisions. It became a police matter and they were the ones who restricted parental notification. I agree that once the incident was resolved, an automated phone call (which is a different system from what the grade schools use) should have been sent out along with the website posting. Calling parents during the incident may likely have (as someone also pointed out earlier) created more panic as some parents may have tried to rush to the school to get their kids into the safety of their possession. While that is completely understandable, it is not the safest for the police and school personnel who were trying to keep the kids and staff safe while they looked into the call. I have a child at Central as well and my child reported nothing but calm students and teachers. The irony is that the panic came from the outside, from all the parents who demanded answers instead of trusting the authorities (police) to keep their kids safe.
Disagreeing is fine...free country...but at least argue respectfully and with an open mind or you just sound ridiculous.

Streeter -- You have a problem.  Calm down.  You can't hold a discussion without name calling?  My ten year old is better than that!  You're best argument with a kid is to call him names and say he is stupid because he doesn't agree with you?  You claim to be an adult???  I dont know if the school is right or wrong but the kid sounds far more grown up than you.  The world has people who see things differently than you.  Get over it.  Grow up

An unknown caller threatened to bring guns to school and start shooting.  What sort of profile might the police be interested in?  What sort of GUTLESS, insignificant little nutjob would hide behind an anonymous phone call to threaten a bunch of kids?  It would probably be a student, an alum or a parent -- someone with a connection to the school.  There might have been someone at the school who said something he didn't like or who didn't agree with his views.  It would have to be someone who responds to minor things irrationally I would imagine.  He gets angry very quickly and quite easily.  He is undoubtedly a bully.  Certainly a coward.  He clearly has a need to threaten people.  To let them know that HE knows where they live.  It seems to me that's the sort of profile the police need to look at.  Then subpoena the person's phone records from the phone company.  You know . . . to see if he placed a call to the school on the date and time in question.  Oh yeah, my guess is that the person the police are looking for has been following these comments on Patch.  Perhaps even commented himself . . .

Everyone, thanks for your comments. I'm closing comments on this article now because it's really come down to name-calling and has strayed way too far from a real discussion about what happened. Thanks for reading.

-Michael Sewall, New Lenox Patch editor