2 Girls Created Joliet School Shooting Hoaxes: Joliet Police

JOLIET — After thousands of Joliet-area families and students were on the edge these past few days as a result of the repeated threats of school shootings, the Joliet Police Department announced it has captured the two culprits, a 14-year-old Joliet West girl as well as a 12-year-old girl whose threats were targeting Dirksen Junior High School.

While the original news release said the 14-year-old girl is a Central student, she actually attends Joliet West, according to Monday night's updated release from Joliet police spokesman Dwayne English:

English said the 14-year-old girl has been arrested and released to a parent after being charged with felony disorderly conduct-transmitting a threat of destruction of school property or violence, death or bodily harm against persons at school.

"Following an intensive investigation of this incident which included threats of harm to specific schools in the Joliet area being shared on social media channels, detectives identified a 14-year- old female as a possible suspect and the possible origin of this threat," English said. "Detectives met with the juvenile and her mother at their home on Sept. 15. No weapons or other contraband were located following a search of the 14-year-old female’s room. She was later questioned by detectives at the Joliet Police Department, and she was released pending further investigation of this incident. Detectives found no evidence of a credible threat, at this time."

Then on Monday afternoon, the 14-year-old girl was brought back to the Joliet Police Department by her mother.

Upon further questioning, police said the girl indicated her involvement in creating the bogus threat on social media. She was then placed into custody without incident. At no time in this investigation was any evidence either discovered or revealed that indicated that this was a credible threat, English said.

Additionally, a 12-year-old girl was also arrested on felony charges of disorderly conduct, processed and released to a parent.

English noted that as Joliet Police Detectives investigated the original threat indicating harm to Joliet area schools, they learned of an additional social media threat that involved Dirksen Junior High in Joliet.

During the investigation, detectives identified the 12-year-old girl as the person responsible for the social media threat, which was deemed to be unfounded.

The 12-year-old was placed into custody without incident at her residence. She was taken to the Joliet Police Department for processing and was subsequently released to the care of a parent.

"The Joliet Police Department takes all threats directed towards our schools and students very seriously," English said. "We remain committed to ensuring the safety of our community, and we work closely with all of our educational partners to address any potential threats swiftly and thoroughly. We appreciate the prompt response and vigilance of the public in bringing these concerns to our attention

"We are currently aware of additional, similar copycat posts circulating on social media. Rest assured, these incidents are under active investigation. At this time, none of these posts have been found to be credible threats."