Oak Lawn High School lockdown lifted after police investigate 'possible safety incident'

ByABC 7 Chicago Digital Team WLS logo
Thursday, September 2, 2021
Oak Lawn HS lockdown
Chopper 7HD flies above Oak Lawn Community HIgh School after it was placed on lockdown.

OAK LAWN, Ill. (WLS) -- A lockdown at Oak Lawn Community High School has been lifted after police investigated a "possible safety issue" Thursday morning, police said.



The school said no injuries have been reported to students or staff and that police officers were on the scene.



Shortly after 9 a.m., Oak Lawn police said the school was on lockdown. The lockdown was then lifted about an hour later after police said, "The subject our officers were looking for has been located"





An Oak Lawn police official said, "The lockdown was put in place as a safety measure as our officers investigated an earlier domestic disturbance. There was no threat made toward the school or at the school. There were early reports that a subject involved in the earlier incident may have left the residence with a handgun. The lockdown has since been lifted at the high school and the subject our officers have been looking for has been located. "





Oak Lawn Community High School District 229 Superintendent Michael Riordan issued a statement saying, "This morning at 8:29am the Oak Lawn Police Department instructed the Oak Lawn Community High School administration to initiate a school-wide lockdown as a precautionary measure to ensure the safety of all students and staff. The lockdown was implemented after receiving a credible report that a student might be coming to the school with a gun. After conducting a room by room search, we determined that the student was not present at school. Our School Resource Officer Det. Pete Hennessy has informed us that the police have the individual in custody and that the student was not on campus at any time this morning. We will be resuming our regular classes at this time. We are thankful for the OLPD's proactive action. We are grateful to our staff and students for their understanding and cooperation during this stressful experience. And we are most happy to report that no one was injured and our school was safe for everyone."





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