Oak Forest High School went into lockdown just before 11 a.m. Tuesday after officials reported a possible threat, triggering a massive police response and a room-by-room sweep of the building. Officials said the incident was ultimately contained, and no injuries were reported.
Oak Forest police responded to the possible threat at the high school, according to ABC7 Chicago, which reported that officers arrived with long guns and at least one K-9 on the school campus. Officials did not provide additional information about the nature of the threat, and it remained a developing situation as police worked to secure the building.
Regional Tactical Team Swept the Building
The South Suburban Emergency Response Team, a multi-agency unit, conducted a coordinated sweep of the school as part of the response, per the same report. The Oak Forest Police Department is one of 22 member agencies that make up the team, known as SSERT, according to the City of Oak Forest. The city describes SSERT as a special weapons and tactics unit trained to handle assignments involving very dangerous and volatile situations.
SSERT operates as a multi-agency SWAT team covering Cook County's Fifth and Sixth Districts, according to the Village of Park Forest. That regional structure is what allowed a large tactical response to converge on Oak Forest High School once officials reported the possible threat Tuesday morning.
School Had Just Practiced for a Scenario Like This
The response echoed a training exercise the school ran earlier this year. On January 16, Oak Forest High School held an expanded lockdown drill alongside the Oak Forest Police Department, the Oak Forest Fire Department and the South Suburban Emergency Response Team, according to Patch. That drill included simulated fighting in the hallways, doors rattled by someone trying to force entry into classrooms, and simulated gunfire, the outlet reported.
During that same drill, Oak Forest Police Chief Anderson explained how officers approach an active threat inside a school. “Their role when they are first responding is to stop the threat. Once that is secure, we will go through the school room by room,” Anderson said, per Patch. That was effectively the sequence officials described Tuesday: containment first, followed by the coordinated building sweep.
Part of a Wider Pattern of School Threats in Illinois
Tuesday's lockdown was not an isolated event in the state. A separate incident at Granite City High School in Madison County also prompted an immediate and massive police response after a possible threat, with police vehicles blocking entrances and a SWAT truck on campus, according to FOX 2 Now. Granite City Community Unit School District #9 said students at both Granite City High School and Coolidge Junior High would be sent home as officials worked to ensure their safety, the station reported.
That same report noted there have been several false reports of school shooters across Illinois, including in Chicago, Rockford, Freeport, Dixon and Winnebago. Separately, Mount Vernon police said a call about a possible armed person at a high school there turned out to be a prank, and noted that similar fake threat calls had been made to schools across the state, according to FOX 2 Now.
Officials in Oak Forest have not disclosed further details about what prompted Tuesday's lockdown. As of the latest information available, the incident remained a developing story, with officials saying only that it had been contained and that no injuries were reported.
