Teen's Social Media Threat Shuts Down Dist. 163 Middle School

PARK FOREST, IL — A 13-year-old Park Forest girl is in custody after a threat she made on social media shut down Michelle Obama School of Technology and the Arts Wednesday.

The Park Forest middle school reopened Thursday.

"We believe the threat was an isolated situation," said Park Forest-Chicago Heights District 163 Superintendent Caletha White.

With the help of police, school officials determined classes could resume Thursday on a normal schedule and with standard security procedures, she said.

According to police and a message White sent to parents Wednesday, parents alerted the principal of the school to the threat at about 7:15 a.m. that day. Officials determined the threat was a "safety concern" for students and staff, and they called parents to pick up their children. Children who were not immediately picked up were bussed to another district school.

Park Forest Deputy Police Chief Brian Rzyski said that investigators quickly found and arrested the teen who made the threats. She did not have the means to carry out the threats, he said.

"The threats of violence made against the school caused the educational facility to close for the day, causing severe disruptions to the educational process and fear at a location that should always be safe," Rzyski said in a statement.

The girl appeared in juvenile court Thursday, where she was petitioned for felony disorderly conduct. She was awaiting transfer to a juvenile detention center.

However, Rzyski added, it also was determined that the 13-year-old also needed help from social services. She and her family were connected to those services.

In a statement posted on social media, Rzyski also urged parents "to have open and frank discussions with their children about making threats of violence, even without means or intent to carry out the threats, either verbally, on social media, or by any other means." Those threats, whatever the nature, are not legal and taken seriously by police, he wrote.

The nature of the threats were not clear Thursday. White would not say whether the teen was a student in the school district.