12-Year-Old Girl Posts School Shooting Threat On Snapchat: Police

NILES, IL — Police said a 12-year-old girl posted a threat to shoot up her school alongside an image of a gun on social media.

Early Tuesday, Gemini Middle School administrators got word of a threatening recent Snapchat post from a student, according to a message to parents from Principal Lewis Roberts.

"These matters are taken extremely seriously, and school administrators immediately went to the student’s home — before the start of the school day — and alerted the Niles Police Department," Roberts said.

The post included a picture of a "firearm with a message threatening to shoot up the school," according to Niles police and school administrators.

Police said the school resource officer assigned to the East Maine School District 63 middle school at 8955 N. Greenwood Ave. immediately opened an investigation in cooperation with school administrators, and the Niles Police Department sent patrol units to the area as a precautionary measure.

The student who sent the Snapchat post was identified as a 12-year-old girl, police said. It was not clear if her parents were aware of the post, but officers determined the gun it depicted was not being kept in their home.

Police said the investigation into the incident is not complete, but there was "no immediate threat" to the middle school or the wider community.

School administrators promised that appropriate disciplinary action would be taken.

As it happens, District 63 officials had previously scheduled an enhanced lockdown training for Tuesday at Gemini.

"We are always taking every step we can to help keep our student safe," District 63 Communications Director Janet Bishop told Patch. "We have an established safety plan and lockdown procedures, and safety is of paramount important to us and we take every step that we are able to take."

The principal emphasized that the already-scheduled lockdown training was not connected to the morning's threat.

"Please take this opportunity," Roberts said, "to have a conversation with your children about how any threat, even if it is shared as a 'joke' between friends, on social media, or at school, will be taken seriously and result in consequences both at school and with law enforcement."