Police: Social media post of student with gun, no threat to Romeoville High School

ROMEOVILLE – The plans for participating in the national school walkout Wednesday morning were changed at at least one school in the Joliet area.

That’s because, according to a news release from the Romeoville Police Department, a post on social media was circulating showing a male subject holding what appeared to be a firearm. The post had various comments added by other students, police said.

Investigators looked into the origin of the post along with the individuals commenting on it and they determined the supposed firearm in the photo was actually an air-soft gun.

The student will not be criminally charged, said Romeoville Police Chief Mark Turvey, but a statement by the department said the case still is being reviewed for further action.

The photo was posted on Instagram and the student who posted it did not caption it. The post was shared by students with their teachers who enabled a quick and thorough investigation.

Romeoville police confirmed there was no threat to students’ safety at Romeoville High School.

Still, Valley View School District 365U spokesman Jim Blaney said in a voicemail that students were not allowed to gather at the football field as planned. The demonstration was to be at 10 a.m. when other students from many other schools were to walk out to protest mass school shootings and call for gun safety legislation.

Romeoville High School students instead were allowed to attend an assembly in the school gym. Police were in communication with the school and alerted the administration that there was no threat by about 11:30 p.m. Tuesday.

“The professionalism that our staff and our students displayed, from last night until this morning, and the expectations that they met was just outstanding,” said Principal Derek Kinder at a news conference following the assembly. “I couldn’t be prouder of them.”

Kinder said that the staff informed students Wednesday morning that they were going to change plans. Of the school’s 1,800 students, about 1,300 students were in attendance Wednesday and of those in attendance, about 1,100 went to the assembly, Kinder said.

Some student leaders spoke to their classmates at the assembly, but for the 17 minutes, the students held a moment of silence. Kinder said the school is planning another demonstration at a later date with the ultimate goal of taking a photo to send to students affected by the mass shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

“It was not only 17 minutes of reflection on the tragedy at Parkland, but it was 17 minutes to reflect on our relationships with students,” sophomore Tegan Snider said. “What we do and how we treat our peers. It was really time to think of how we can make our school a more welcoming and safe place.”

There were a number of other schools in the area at which students still planned to walk out as of Wednesday morning.