Steger, Chicago Heights Schools Went To Lockdown After Nearby Threats

CHICAGO HEIGHTS, IL — Steger School District No. 194 was placed on a soft lockdown Thursday afternoon following a report of a suspicious person watching students as they got off of school buses Wednesday in Sauk Village.

Chicago Heights District 170 was also placed on a soft lockdown at around 8 a.m. Thursday after a bomb threat was called into Carol Moseley Braun Elementary School in Calumet City. Police searched the campus and found nothing to indicate the threat was credible, according to reports.

Students will have an e-learning day Friday.

Following the District 170 lockdown, District 194 Superintendent David Frusher told parents in an email that the district would be going into a soft lockdown "out of an abundance of caution." On Wednesday, Sauk Village school officials released an alert that a "suspicious person" was watching students and attempting to approach them as they got off the bus in the Sauk Village Wednesday. No sightings of the person were reported in Steger.

A flyer from 2019 was also circulating social media Thursday in regard to a person with a similar description who was previously accused of approaching Steger students as they got off the school bus. Officials said they are aware of the flyer and went into lockdown as a precaution.

A soft lockdown means teachers lock their classroom doors and no visitors are allowed in the building, administration told Patch.