Aurora West High School went on “hold in place” status this morning as a result of nationwide school threats made on social video platform TikTok and the circulation throughout the high school of a photo showing a gun held by what appears to be a student standing in a bathroom.
Once notified of the photo, District 129 Superintendent of Schools Dr. Jeff Craig placed the school, which was under a heavier-than-normal police presence due to the TikTok video, on “hold in place” status, effectively shutting down movement in and out of the school and increasing security measures.
Craig sent he following email to parents:
West High Parents: We have been made aware of a photo that is circulating the high school depicting a photo of a firearm. We are currently on a “hold in place and teach” and will remain as such until we have determined the source of the photo. The Aurora Police Department is on campus leading the investigation. At this time, we ask that you do not come to the school to pick up your child as no one will be released from the building until the investigation has concluded. Updates will be sent as they are appropriate.
Subsequently, Aurora police determined that the photo in question was from a 2020 article posted on an El Paso, Texas TV station’s website and had nothing to do with West Aurora High School.
At 11:47am, APD cleared the school from “hold in place” status and the school went on an altered schedule for the remainder of the day.
The incident is reflective of an overall unease about school safety resulting from a string of hoax threats throughout the region since the beginning of the school year, as well as, presumably, the recent school shooting in Oxford, Michigan that left 4 students dead.
