A Chicago Public Schools elementary and high school on the Northwest Side were placed on a soft lockdown Wednesday because of separate threats on social media.
Principal Cliff Gabor of Mary Lyon Elementary School, 2941 N. McVicker Ave., in Belmont Central, wrote in a message to parents that school officials learned about “graffiti in the girl’s bathroom and also a social media post with a potential threat against the school” on Tuesday evening.
Chicago police said the school was placed on a “soft lockdown” Wednesday because of a “threatening message” found written in the bathroom about 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday. The message has since been erased by the school custodian.
“We are taking this very seriously and have notified the Chicago Police and are working closely with them,” Gabor wrote. “In addition, out of an over abundance of precaution, we will have extra security presence at the school.”
Officers were called about 7:45 a.m. Wednesday for reports of another threat at a school in the 1900 block of North Hamlin Avenue, police said. A student had received a “threatening message” from someone at a rival school through a social media app and the school was placed on a soft lockdown as a precaution. The message has since been taken down.
Marine Leadership Academy is located at 1920 N. Hamlin in Logan Square. A representative at the school declined to comment about the threat or lockdown when reached by phone Wednesday morning.
Chicago Public Schools representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Marine Leadership Academy threat.
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No one is in custody in either case as Area North detectives investigate the threats.
