Pope Leo's brother receives unfounded bomb threat, New Lenox police say
Cardinal Blase Cupich comments on back-and-forth between Pope Leo and President Trump
CHICAGO (WLS) -- One of Pope Leo XIV's brothers was the victim of a bomb threat on Wednesday night, New Lenox police said.
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Police received a call at about 6:29 p.m. for a reported bomb threat at the house of John Prevost.
"Out of an abundance of caution, surrounding homes were notified and asked to evacuate," police said.
There were no explosives, and no injuries, according to police.
"The incident remains under investigation, as authorities work to determine the origin of the report. Making false reports of this nature is a serious offense and may result in criminal charges," police said.
Anyone with information is urged to contact police.
ABC7 Chicago spoke with Prevost shortly after the Chicago-born pope was elected.
He did not respond to requests for comment Thursday.
The bomb threat comes amid some back-and-forth between the pope and President Donald Trump.
Cardinal Blase Cupich commented Thursday on the exchanges between the pontiff and the president.
New Lenox officials said the threat was brief, and police remain vigilant.
Officers remain stationed in the area just to keep an eye on the neighborhood.
The threat was emailed to New Lenox police and the Will County Sheriff's Office.
"We worked with the Will County bomb unit, and they had their dogs out there. And they did a great job of searching the area inside and then and out. We did it all," Mayor Tim Baldermann said. "It was certainly a direct threat to the resident that was living there. There were some tones in that that might have been perceived as political in nature."
Neighbors witnessed the disturbance Wednesday night.
"And I see a cop car right there. He's pointing, with traffic cones. And I looked out my window, and then down there they were, like, also blocked off that area," Patrick Mayhugh said.
Gov. JB Pritzker called the threat disheartening.
"The idea of political violence, we all should be standing up against that sort of thing and making sure that we're keeping people safe. But also the rhetoric, the level of rhetoric needs to come down," Pritzker said.
The FBI is now assisting local police in trying to track down the source of the threat.
"When you're certainly not involved in it yourself, to be subjected to this type of criminal behavior, it's really incredibly disappointing and just a sad state of affairs," Baldermann said.
If authorities can determine who sent in the threat, that person could face local and federal charges.
For now, the neighborhood hopes things settle down.
