School, law enforcement officials come together to denounce school threats after pictures of gun circulated at West Aurora High School

On a day that school districts across the country were on high alert because of a vague threat on TikTok warning of violence against schools, Aurora area leaders came together Friday night to reassure the community they are doing their best to keep students safe.

West Aurora School District officials together with the Aurora Police Department were investigating a potential threat at around 10:40 a.m. Friday after hearing of photos being airdropped to students that had a specific threat to West Aurora High School. The post was a picture of a gun taken in a bathroom.

Students and staff were held in place for more than two hours and were asked not to leave their classrooms as the threat was being investigated. Upon investigation, it was determined the photo in question was taken last year in El Paso, Texas.

They were given the all clear at about noon.

“For nearly three hours, our 3,700 students lost out on academic experiences, lunch periods were delayed, and it created undue stress on our entire school community,” West Aurora School Superintendent Jeff Craig said during a press conference at the Aurora Police Department. “Our partners in this investigation is the Aurora Police Department and they will continue to follow up on this investigation to identify those individuals responsible for the disruption today.”

As Aurora Police Chief Keith Cross noted, Friday’s threat was not an isolated incident.

“Over the past few weeks our department has been inundated with school threats,” he said. “We will investigate each one. Each one of those threats unnecessarily tie up valuable resources that might be needed elsewhere in the city, not to mention the disruption to learning and causing fear and concern across our community.”

Kane County State’s Attorney Jamie Mosser stressed that her office will prosecute anyone involved in such behavior.

“When people choose to do this, it is a felony offense in Illinois of disorderly conduct.,” she said. “Whether it is an adult doing this or a juvenile, we will prosecute these cases.”

And she said the trauma that such threats cause cannot be underestimated

“The trauma that a child suffers when they are being told that they have to hide because of a potential threat is something that cannot be undone,” Mosser said. “We will do everything that we can to continue to support our schools, to support the police and to make sure that everyone understands this will be taken seriously and will have serious consequences.”