Hinsdale South Parents Demand Answers After Gun Found On Student

DARIEN, IL – Officials speaking at a student safety forum Monday night at Hinsdale South High School did not appear as if they were going to take questions from the audience.

Attendees had a different idea.

The meeting was held after authorities revealed a loaded gun was found on a student in the dean's office about 11 a.m. Thursday. The 16-year-old Willowbrook boy, who is locked up, is now facing felony charges.

At the forum, officials sat at a long table on the stage in Hinsdale South's auditorium. They included Hinsdale High School District 86 Superintendent Michael Lach, DuPage County State's Attorney Robert Berlin, Police Chief Greg Thomas and Mayor Joseph Marchese.

The officials spoke about how it took 47 seconds for school security to get to the dean's office after the gun was discovered. Darien police officers arrived in six minutes.

During their presentation, the officials said they were limited in discussing a specific student, citing state and federal privacy laws.

At the end of the speeches, Superintendent Lach said he had received emails and phone calls and had "dipped my toes in the dark areas of social media."

From those communications, he said he had compiled residents' questions about the situation.

When he started posing the inquiries to the others at the table, the audience jeered him. They wanted to ask questions.

One man threatened to say the student's name out loud.

Residents alleged the offending student smelled of marijuana from the moment he got into school that morning. They asked why the school did nothing about it.

A man who once attended South said, "If I smelled like marijuana 20 years ago, I'd have been in big trouble."

School officials said when students smell of marijuana, they are handled by the dean's office and security.

Other parents wondered why students are allowed to wear coats and carry backpacks, where they could conceal guns.

"That person walked in at 8 o'clock in the morning with a gun. Why wasn't he caught and stopped and frisked immediately?" one man said.

Another man could be heard whispering, "How could they know?"

Residents also demanded the school district use the weapons detection system every day. After last week's incident, South started using the equipment, saying it would do so at least until the Thanksgiving break.

Lach said the school on Wednesday would reveal its plan for whether it would use the system after the break.

He noted some parents want to use it all the time. But he said he also heard from parents who fear using such equipment would make the school resemble a "police state." That sentiment did not sit well with many in the room. They accused the district of prioritizing appearances and "hurt feelings" over student safety.

The district's director of security, Geoffrey Cooker, said weapons detection systems are not perfect.

"Anyone with good determination can overcome it," Cooker said. "They will detect weapons, but they will also detect three-ring binders."

Some in the room criticized how the school communicated last week's incident. The school's first public messages referred to an unspecified weapon. It wasn't until Patch asked Darien police for the type of weapon that the public learned a gun was found.

Resident Sergio Cordova said the school should have told residents that a gun was involved, saying he had to learn that from Patch and social media.

In response, Lach said the school did not want to give any information that would compromise the police investigation.

"Should we have mentioned that it was a loaded gun when we sent our message on Friday morning? Maybe. I've lost a lot of sleep over that decision," Lach said. "I'm glad more complete information has been shared now."

Cordova, who praised security's 47-second response, asked whether the incident was a random act.

"If this is a reaction to this child being bullied, that really needs to be looked into and investigated," he said. "We can't allow bullying in our school. We hear this all the time. Someone was bullied all their lives in school, and they got to a point where they couldn't handle it anymore, then we run into massive casualties."

In an agreement with the school district, Darien police assign an officer, known as a school resource officer, to Hinsdale South. But that person was in training and not at the school when the gun was found.

Residents asked Chief Thomas about whether the police department usually finds a replacement when the school resource officer is gone. He said that sometimes happens.

"Going forward, we will look at replacing officers when the officer is gone," the chief said.

State's Attorney Berlin said it was rare that a loaded gun is found in schools in DuPage County.

None of the officials knew of other schools in the county that screen students daily for weapons.