Police are conducting interviews and working to identify a juvenile who allegedly threatened to shoot up a school dance Friday evening at Palombi Middle School in Lake Villa.
Lake Villa Police Department Lt. James DeCaro told Lake and McHenry County Scanner that officers responded to Peter J. Palombi Middle School, located at 133 McKinley Avenue in Lake Villa.
Students who were attending a Friday evening dance at the school told staff about a threat.
DeCaro said it was alleged that an unidentified juvenile, who does not attend the school, was going to come to the school dance event to commit a shooting.
Police and school officials did not hear about the threat prior to the event and were told of it prior to the end of the dance.
Officers from the Lake Villa Police Department and Antioch Police Department remained at the school until all students were picked up by their parents.
“[…] we take these threats very seriously and immediately had police units respond to the school and stand by, until the dance ended and all the children were picked up and accounted for by parents,” DeCaro said.
Interviews are pending in an effort to determine the responsible person for the threat.
DeCaro said no evidence has been found yet to indicate there is a credible threat.
Police will be present at Palombi Middle School throughout the day on Monday as a precaution.
Palombi Middle School Principal Victor Wight said in a message to parents that a few students reported the threat to staff.
“As a precaution, we called the police to make sure we had a presence inside and outside the building. All of our students are safe and we also have extra staff outside for pickup,” Wight said in the message Friday evening.
Late last month, students were evacuated and police responded after reports of a gun inside Viking Middle School during a school dance event.
The Gurnee Police Department said at the time that officers received reports of a gun inside the building.
All students were evacuated from the school and sent home early.
Police determined the claims of a gun on campus were unfounded.
It is unknown if there is any link between the two incidents, which occurred just two weeks apart.