Steger Students Safe After Reports Of Suspicious Man: Officials

STEGER, IL — District 194 Superintendent David Frusher assured parents Thursday that their children are safe after a confidential police bulletin was leaked to the public that alerted authorities about a suspicious man who had attended school board meetings in the area.

"We are aware that information is circulating regarding an individual identified by the Steger police as 'suspicious,' Frusher said in a letter sent to parents Thursday. "We want to assure you that student safety is our number one priority at the District."

"The District collaborated with the police about this individual and we took appropriate steps to communicate necessary information to our staff so that there would not be any disruptions to our educational program. At no time has there been any threat made against or any imminent danger to the District," Frusher wrote.

According to Steger police, the bulletin had been marked "confidential" and was distributed to law enforcement agents and school district officials to alert them to the situation. It was never intended for the public because the man was not accused of wrongdoing and was not arrested.

However, authorities said, someone removed the "confidential" stamp from the bottom of the bulletin and distributed, unauthorized, to the public. Both police and the superintendent's office said that they did not publish the doctored document. Police, however, are investigating. Patch is not publishing the document because it was manipulated and because it contains sensitive information.

The unauthorized version of the bulletin was distributed widely on Steger Facebook community groups and set off a panic in the community.

"Scary as s***," one commenter wrote.

At least one post containing the unauthorized bulletin has been removed since police began receiving calls about it yesterday, authorities said.

According to the bulletin, District 194 officials reported on Aug. 16 that a man who was acting suspiciously attended a school board meeting the night before at Columbia Central Middle School in Steger. Before the meeting, witnesses saw him enter the bathroom, exit it, then duck back in after people walked by. He then joined the meeting and asked board members questions about school shootings, school-safety plans, God in people's lives and religion in schools. He also indicated he was a relative of a girl who attended school in the district. He left after speaking for about 20 minutes, the bulletin said.

The man publicly identified himself as Hezekiah Israel. Police later determined that he was not related to anyone at the school district and that Israel was a 39-year-old Indiana man who had changed his name after he converted to another religion, possibly Islam. They said they believe he is a former Lake County, IN, teacher who converted because his child died. Police offered a description of him and his car, and told authorities to be on the lookout for suspicious activity from the man.

Police also said that he had no violent history, but that his situation and the circumstances should be noted.

Patch's attempts to reach Hezekiah Israel have so far been unsuccessful.

Five days after attending the Steger school board meeting, a man matching Israel's description and photo also appeared before the Crete-Monee School District 201u board. According to a video recording of the meeting, he identified himself by the same name and left his email address with officials.

Israel spoke for about three minutes to ask the district to add an optional religious-discussion class to its offerings and offered to moderate it.

"I am concerned about these mass shootings," he said. "I have given this a lot of thought as to different problems and things that may be caused by this. And first of all, I say may peace be upon you all. I am firmly convinced that these things are due to a neglect in our children being taught anything about God and I am not trying to push any one particular religion, ok, because I understand that violates the First Amendment."

He suggested that children's own rights have been violated because they cannot talk about God in school, and added that he believed open debates and discovery about God would quell violence in the nation's school system.

Frusher did not comment about the incident in Crete. However, in his letter to parents, he said the district believed Steger's students were not threatened. He promised open communication with parent and to take action when the situation warranted it.

"If there ever is a specific threat to student safety, we will share that information with you. This simply was not a situation that rose to that level," he wrote.

"We hope you understand that part of our job is to avoid creating unnecessary stress or panic. We continuously monitor student safety and work closely with the police to receive and, when necessary, act on relevant information."