A Fremont Middle School student was taken into custody after threatening to carry out a school shooting and displaying a shotgun during a video call with a classmate, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office said Friday.
The Mundelein-area youth has been charged in juvenile court with unlawful possession of a firearm and aggravated assault, police said.
Police said they were alerted Wednesday that the student had made a school-shooting threat while coming home on a school bus and becoming involved in an altercation with other students.
After returning home, the student retrieved a firearm and made the video call to one of the students involved in the altercation, police said. During the call, they said, he displayed the gun.
Deputies responded to the residence, made contact with the student and took possession of the shotgun. They also seized an additional firearm from inside a safe at the home.
Charges against the juvenile’s guardian are pending, police said.
“We are incredibly grateful to the witnesses who stepped forward to report this threat,” Sheriff John Idleburg said. “The community plays a critical role in preventing tragedies.
“Across the country, we’ve seen too many instances of school violence where warning signs went unreported,” he said. “Together, we can make a difference by speaking up when something doesn’t seem right.”
