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A third arrest has been made in connection to recent social media threats directed at schools in Joliet, with police arresting a 12-year-old for felony disorderly conduct involving transmitting a threat of destruction of school property or violence, police said.
The arrest was connected with a threatening Instagram post police were made aware of shortly after 3:40 p.m. Monday, which indicated inflicting potential harm at area schools.
When confronted by police at a relative's home, the 12-year-old said his involvement in the posts was meant to be a prank. He was taken into custody without incident and issued a referral to the River Valley Justice Center.
According to police, the child is believed to be a student at Dirksen Junior High School and no weapons or contraband were found following a search.
The arrest comes as Joliet Township high schools announced that students will be searched upon entry "out of an abundance of caution" in wake of the recent threats.
"Absolutely everybody is scared in this day and age, you can't take stuff like that lightly," one mother said.
Many parents and community members were left feeling uncertain after threats on social media platforms targeted schools in Joliet.
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On Monday, a 14-year-old girl and 12-year-old girl were arrested for felony disorderly conduct in connection to making the threats that were deemed to be unfounded.
"They were able to identify them through using technology and then were able to question both girls and in one case detectives were able to search the premises; search the girl’s house and were unable to find any sort of weapons and her family indicated they didn’t have any weapons," said Joliet Police Sgt. Dwayne English.
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Investigators said one of the girls, who is a student in the Joliet Township High School District 204 confessed.
"The information that was learned was, it just seemed like they clearly did not understand the weight of their messages," he said.
Joliet police said they have seen copycat threats emerge and have received hundreds of tips for their investigation of social media threats, with seven open cases on the matter.
"While in the end, we are relieved to find there is no credibility to these threats, there is a sense of frustration too that comes with it," he said.
English encouraged parents to talk with their children about the severity of online threats and the possible consequences that could come from making them.
"We encourage parents to have this conversation with their children about using technology appropriately, understanding these threats, these messages that have been spread have real-life consequences," English said.
A Joliet Township High School board meeting is scheduled to be held Tuesday night.
Joliet police said additional officers are being deployed to patrol at and around Joliet area schools for the remainder of the week.
