Man falsely claimed person was in Sycamore High bathroom with gun to divert from police chase

SYCAMORE – A Chicago man lied to police Friday after he made a 911 call claiming to have seen someone in a Sycamore High School bathroom with a gun in order to divert police from finding him, authorities said Friday.

The man, Terrell Delaney, 31, was arrested and is in custody at the DeKalb County jail. The false intruder report led to a brief soft lockdown at the high school and nearby West Elementary School, Sycamore School District 427 Superintendent Steve Wilder said.

“At no time was there a direct threat to the safety of our students or staff,” Wilder wrote in an email to West Elementary parents.

Authorities found and arrested Delaney in the 200 block of Mason Court, police said in an update released about 4:25 p.m. Friday.

About 11:20 a.m. Friday, a victim reported a domestic battery in the 200 block of North Cross Street, prompting Delaney to flee on foot from the area, police said. Shortly after, police got a 911 call from a person “who reported seeing a person in a Sycamore High School restroom with a firearm,” police said.

Authorities immediately alerted police countywide, and Sycamore police along with deputies from the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office responded to the high school, 427 Spartan Trail. West Elementary School, 240 Fair St., also was placed on a soft lockdown.

Police later learned “through an investigation that [Delaney] had placed the false 911 call reporting the person with a firearm at Sycamore High School in an effort to divert police from looking for him,” officials wrote in a news release Friday from the Sycamore Police Department.

Delaney has been charged with two counts of disorderly conduct, which includes allegations of a fake 911 call, and misdemeanor domestic battery. If convicted of disorderly conduct, a Class 3 felony, he could face up to five years in prison. He’s being held at the county jail in Sycamore pending a detention hearing, which is expected to take place Saturday.

Delaney also faced charges related to a February incident in which police alleged that he harassed a woman and threatened to blow up Northwestern Medicine Kishwaukee Hospital in DeKalb. He pleaded guilty to felony stalking in the case March 28, DeKalb County court records show. Circuit Court Judge Joseph Pedersen in response sentenced Delaney to 100 days in jail and 24 months of probation. Delaney received credit for 52 days in jail. After serving the remainder of his jail sentence, he was released into the custody of the Illinois Department of Corrections on a parole hold, records show.

The soft lockdowns were in effect from 12:15 to 12:20 p.m. Friday, according to emails sent about 1:30 p.m. by Wilder to parents of students at the high school and elementary school.

“Our primary concern is always the well-being of our school community, and the soft lockdown allowed us to maintain a secure environment while the police handled the situation in the neighborhood,” Wilder wrote. “The soft lockdown has since been lifted, and school operations have resumed as normal.”