False Reports Of Shots Fired In Mokena Spread On Social Media: Police

MOKENA, IL — Reports on social media Monday of shots fired at multiple locations in Mokena turned out to be much ado about nothing, according to Mokena Police Chief Brian Benton. There were no shots fired, and at no time was the public in any danger, Benton said.

It all started with a post on social media at about 6 p.m. Monday. The post, which was quickly removed but widely shared before that, showed what appeared to be a video clip from a Ring camera and alleged the footage was from the area near Berkot's Super Foods on Wolf Road in Mokena, Benton said. Police were not able to confirm the source of the Ring camera footage.

Police contacted Berkot's, and staff there said they had not been notified of any shots fired, Benton said. Police also checked with Laraway Communications Center, the area-wide 911 police dispatch center, and it also had not received any reports of shots fired, Benton said.

As police were investigating the initial false shots fired report near Berkot's, they were made aware of a second report of shots fired — this time at Walgreens, also near Berkot's — as the snowball effect of misinformation on social media took hold. That, too, turned out to be a hoax, Benton said.

Mokena police on its Facebook page Monday kept the public up to date on the false reports. Those posts informed the public that "MPD has had NO credible information or reports to substantiate this information." Within a couple of hours, Mokena PD updated the public again via Facebook that "The reports on social media are unsubstantiated. MPD is aware of nationwide media reports of fictitious RING camera reports to law enforcement."

"This is all just a hoax. No shots were fired, and there was no reason to be alarmed," Benton told Patch. "But, we want the public to know that if something like this were to occur — or of it's a hoax of some type — we're going to do our best to try to get that information out right away."

Benton reminded Mokena residents that they can sign up to receive alerts about public safety in the Village via the Everbridge Community Alert notification system. That alert system sends out emails and text messages from the Mokena Police Department and the Village of Mokena to registered users with information that comes directly from those sources.

"If there was a true, critical emergency, we have a village-wide notification system," Benton said. "We urge our citizens to sign up through the Everbridge emergency notification system. We would put something out like that immediately so that people know to shelter in place or whatever actions need to be taken."

Residents can sign up for community-wide alerts through the Everbridge Community Alert Network by following this link.