An 18-year-old Elgin student has been arrested and charged in relation to a threat made against Elgin’s Larkin High School yesterday afternoon.
Adding to the disconcerting trend of social media threats to schools across the nation and here in Kane County, at approximately 1:00pm yesterday the Elgin Police Department was made aware of a school threat at Larkin High School. The social media threat was relayed through a third party to the School Resource Officer who began an immediate investigation.
The threat triggered a large police presence at the school while officers assisted in the investigation. Subsequently, the suspect was identified and located, and it was determined that the threat was not credible.
The suspect was taken into custody and the case was reviewed by the Kane County State’s Attorney’s Office which authorized a charge of one (1) count of Disorderly Conduct – Threat of Violence at School, a Class 4 felony.
The suspect was released pending a future court date.
According to the K-12 School Shooting Database, from January 2023 to June 2024 (the latest reporting period available) there have been 853 confirmed cases of false school threats (“swatting”) in the United States.
