Central IL police investigating string of recent school threats

CENTRAL ILLINOIS (WCIA) — Several police departments across Central Illinois are investigating a series of threats that have been made against area schools this week.

So far, it appears that the threats are part of a nationwide trend with no apparent connection to the area.

The Westville Police Department was one of the agencies that confirmed to WCIA it investigated a threat. Chief of Police Justin Varvel said the threat was communicated in a social media post that mentioned “the next school shooting” and “Westville schools.”

Varvel said his department began tracking the source of the social media post and contacted state and federal partners to help. He also said he spoke to other police departments from other places in the U.S. called Westville. There was nothing in the post that indicated which Westville in the U.S. — there are almost a dozen — was being referred to.

Varvel added that the message that named Westville schools as a target appeared nearly identical to many other threats schools across the country received. The only difference in the threats was the name of the town and the school district.

The Jacksonville Police Department also investigated a purported threat toward the town’s school district. This threat came in the form of a purported list of schools that were being targeted for violence, along with a picture that was circulating on Snapchat among Jacksonville students.

Steve Ptacek, Superintendent of the Jacksonville School District, provided the picture in a post on the district’s Facebook page . The text in the picture threatened “shooting up the buckeye local” but did not mention Jacksonville. These words indicated a target in Ohio, but Ptacek said the “random Snapchat in another state” morphed into a threat in Jacksonville.

He said the district became aware of people saying on social media there was a list of targeted schools that included Jacksonville, and saying they had seen it, but Ptacek said no one was able to produce this list.

Ptacek and Jacksonville’s Deputy Chief of Police, Doug Thompson, later said the investigation revealed that the list in question was actually a “targeted school improvement list” produced by the Illinois State Board of Education.

“This makes sense since JMS and Lincoln are on that list,” Ptacek said. “It looks like the list has nothing to do with the Snapchat post.

The Mt. Zion Police Department also confirmed on Facebook that they too investigated threats toward schools in town. Officials said no information had been found that substantiated the threats but added that the department does take the threats seriously and will have extra officers at Mt. Zion schools.

WCIA has reached out to several other school districts, including those in Danville, Neoga and Effingham to inquire about possible similar threats. We have not heard back yet and will provide updates as we learn more.

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