Two Lake County students this week were arrested and charged with intimidation after allegedly making school shooting threats.
A 14-year-old Gary girl and an 11-year-old Hebron boy are being charged in the two separate incidents, according to a Wednesday news release from county police. The investigation is ongoing.
On Sunday, a Lake County police officer found the 14-year-old girl posted a threatening comment on a TikTok video. The girl told police that she watched the video and posted a comment about shooting at a school.
She couldn’t remember the exact statement, and it didn’t mention a specific school or student, the girl told police. Her family said she told them about the comment, according to Lake County police.
The FBI also had investigated the incident and found the comment was tracked to a phone at a Gary address, according to police. The account has been banned from TikTok.
Police placed the teen in custody of the Lake County Juvenile Center.
One day later, on Monday, a Lake County officer was dispatched to a school in Lowell for a reported school shooting threat made on a bus at about 3:15 p.m.
Surveillance footage showed a boy saying, “ABCD shoot up the school,” and the bus driver notifying the student that he was on camera.
The student allegedly waved at the camera, according to a news release.
Officers asked the 11-year-old boy what he meant by his statement.
“ABCD Glock 19 shoot up the school. Act like a fool,” the boy allegedly told police, adding that it was a joke and he didn’t think it was serious.
The suspect had recently watched a TikTok video about making threats against schools.
In Porter County, six juveniles are being criminally charged for creating and/or publicly sharing threatening information involving Valparaiso schools. The investigation is ongoing, and the juveniles are being held at the Porter County Juvenile Detention Center.
Valparaiso Police and Valparaiso Community Schools on Sept. 12 were made aware of a possible threat at Thomas Jefferson Middle School. Later during the school day, a reference of the original threat was relayed from a student to a staff member, causing a few athletic teams to hide in their respective local rooms, according to police.
Police and school officials also learned of an additional threat on social media, including a list of students to be harmed.
Capt. Joe Hall, public information officer for the Valparaiso Police Department, thanked the community for its support.
“VPD would further encourage parents and students alike to consider the danger of publicly sharing unconfirmed information across social media,” Hall said in a news release. “Rather, we would like to stress the importance of notifying authorities immediately upon viewing such materials.”
Lake County Sheriff Oscar Martinez Jr. said in a news release that he “takes all threats of violence very seriously,” and anyone suspected of illegal behavior will face serious consequences.
“Please understand, these threats are not funny,” Martinez said in the news release. “They’re criminal, and they will be treated as such regardless of the age of those responsible.”
mwilkins@chicagotribune.com
