Wednesday's school day at Jones College Prep in Chicago's South Loop was interrupted by what police suspect was a swatting incident. According to CBS News Chicago, the high school at 700 S. State St. was the recipient of multiple calls around 2:05 p.m., reporting a bomb threat and a person with a gun. Chicago Police Central Control Group Deputy Chief Joe Bird confirmed that officers acted on the nature of the calls, quickly securing and sweeping through the school buildings with no bomb or gunman found.
The response and ensuing investigation led to a temporary lockdown but were eventually deemed safe for dismissal and a return to after-school activities. Deputy Chief Bird, as reported by Chicago Sun-Times, characterized the situation at Jones College Prep as a swatting incident—a false emergency engineered to provoke a heavy police response. Bird expressed relief that "the threats made at Jones College Prep today were not bona fide," acknowledging the second false threat against John Hancock College Preparatory High School.
At Jones, students like junior Kenzie Hauppa, told Chicago Sun-Times, initially believed the lockdown to be a drill. The dawning realization of its severity occurred as armed officers swept their classrooms questioning if “anyone was a threat.” The gravity of their situation was only compounded by the lack of information until later receiving an email from the principal elucidating that an email with "language that resembled a potential safety threat" had prompted the lockdown and subsequent police actions.
These hoax threats, while causing no physical harm, leave psychological imprints. After the lockdown was lifted and the community was assured of their safety, there remained an undercurrent of apprehension. As Kenzie told Chicago Sun-Times, "It’s kind of scary going on lockdown thinking it’s just a drill, but then you find out that it’s not when you see all these police walking around your school." Similarly, Deputy Chief Bird conveyed the widespread alarm such incidents trigger: "Anyone who makes a threat to a school is a very serious matter. It frightens everybody. It frightens the students, the administrators, the community — and that's why the officers responded as swiftly as they did."
