Juvenile Girl Behind Joliet West TikTok Threat: Police

JOLIET, IL — A juvenile girl has been identified as the person who made an unsubstantiated social media threat toward Joliet West High School, where an increased police presence was in place on Thursday, police said on Friday.

The threat, which was made on TikTok, was received on Wednesday night by the school officials and made references to the school "being shot up," district officials said.

Just before 6:30 a.m. Thursday, school officials sent an alert to Joliet West families, telling them that police would be at the school on Thursday and that searches would be conducted as students entered the building.

Joliet Police spokesman Sgt. Dwayne English said the claims proved to be unsubstantiated and that there were no issues reported at the school on Thursday. He said the incident remains under investigation and because the person identified as the person making the threat is a juvenile, no further information could be provided.

District 204 officials sent out a message later, thanking Joliet Police for handling the social media threat.

"This is a good reminder for parents/guardians to talk to their student(s) about the consequences of making threats and the importance of reporting threats,” the statement said. “ We ask that parents take a moment to discuss the topic of school threats with their student(s) and pledge as a family to report threats to the proper authorities and refrain from sharing rumored threats and unverified information with others.”

It added: “Every member of a school community is responsible for its safety. As always, we encourage everyone to 'Say Something' if they 'See Something' ... The safety of our students and staff is always our first priority. We thank you for working in partnership to keep our school safe.”