Schools across the Chicago area asked for increased police presence Friday in light of a circulating TikTok post referencing a shooting in all U.S. schools.
The Statewide Terrorism and Intelligence Center made all Illinois school districts aware of the TikTok prompting school violence on Friday, according to reporting from NBC-affiliate WREX.
Several area schools, including Joliet Township High School, Oak Park River Forest High School, Glencoe School District 35 and North Shore School District 112, said the increase of officers is "out of an abundance of caution" as they said no credible threat currently exists.
Glencoe School District 35 Supt. Catherine Wang said in a letter to staff and families that the original threat was believed to have started as a way for students to skip or be excused from school.
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"We all have a role in keeping our students and community safe. Thank you for reinforcing our See Something, Say Something message with your child(ren)," Wang said in the letter.
All school districts have asked that parents and students contact local law enforcement should they hear of any potential threats.
TikTok provided the following statement on Twitter Thursday evening:
Local
We handle even rumored threats with utmost seriousness, which is why we're working with law enforcement to look into warnings about potential violence at schools even though we have not found evidence of such threats originating or spreading via TikTok.
