Coal City Police investigate social media post

The Coal City Police Department reports it received information today, Wednesday, Feb. 28, from administration at the Coal City Unit 1 School District that an alarming post was made on the social media app Snapchat by a juvenile.             Coal City Police want to inform residents of Coal City that there was no threat made toward the school, its faculty, or students within the district.
Since being made aware of this incident, the Coal City Police Department has worked expeditiously to investigate this complaint that was brought to light by a student who witnessed the social media post. As a result, there was an increased law enforcement presence throughout the district as investigators worked to determine the source of the social media post.
In a press release, Coal City Police report the investigation of this incident uncovered the following information. The juvenile posted a photograph of a black (broken) air soft gun on Snapchat. The caption that was written with this post never made any direct threats to the public, the school district, or any individual person or persons. The juvenile deleted the post and the post is no longer in view.
The juvenile who posted the picture and their family have been identified and are currently cooperating with this law enforcement investigation. At this time the juvenile's name is not being released.
The Coal City Police Department is continuing its investigation in collaboration with the Grundy County State's Attorney's Office.
Coal City Police Sgt. Tom Logan, the department's public information officer,  reiterated  there is no current threat to the public.            
        "Communication continues to be our greatest tool in preventing acts of violence within our community. Although today's incident was deemed not related to the school it is everyone's responsibility to report suspicious or concerning situations or communications. We thank you for allowing us to continue to serve our wonderful community" Logan said.

At 5:30 p.m. Coal City Unit 1 released the following statement:

It is out of an extreme caution and in recognition of current events that we inform you of a recent matter that has taken place in our school district. School officials were made aware of a disturbing communication made by a student on social media. Once that communication was reported, school officials immediately began an investigation in conjunction with local law enforcement. Disciplinary measures have since been issued and the district will continue to work with local police authorities to assure that this matter is dealt with appropriately and that our students are safe. We do not believe there was an imminent threat to any of our schools and are confident that at no time were students in danger. We do, however, encourage you to use this as another opportunity to discuss with your children the importance of reporting to an adult any suspicious or concerning situations or communications. It is also very important that our students understand that in today's climate, there is no such thing as "joking around" when discussing threats of violence of any kind. The school district appreciates your support and dedication to keeping all of our students safe.