An Update from Principal Lenart
October 8, 2022
Dear Lake Forest High School Faculty, Staff, Students, and Families:
Earlier this morning, a student using a restroom at Lake Forest High School found one of the school evacuation maps graffitied with an image of a potential location for a school shooter, a derogatory statement towards a staff member, and a student name was signed. Staff in the building immediately called police, alerted school security on campus, and ensured that everyone present in the building was safe. Lake Forest Police Department promptly responded with several officers on site who searched the premises.
Once I was contacted, I immediately came to campus. Upon my arrival, out of an abundance of caution, I closed the campus, asking all students and guests to exit the building, so LFPD could do a thorough sweep of all classrooms, bathrooms, common spaces and other parts of our building. As of 12:45pm this afternoon, the LFPD has given us the all clear and the building will be reopened.
My team has thoroughly reviewed the camera footage around the bathroom, identified who entered and exited the bathroom as well as when the bathroom was locked by our staff for the evening and then reopened this morning. There was not a credible, potential threat to LFHS based on our review, although we will be speaking with specific students over the weekend. I have been in touch with Dr. Montgomery throughout the day and he is aware of the ongoing investigation.
It is highly unusual for a subject to publicly identify themselves when making a threat of this nature. We believe that this was done with the intent to provoke fear among the students and staff. At this time, we are still assessing whether or not this incident is related to the single bullet that was found on the library floor on Thursday. We are grateful to our students for being vigilant and reporting suspicious incidents to our staff. As I mentioned earlier this week, our Confidential Reporting Tool is a valuable resource that is always available to our students and staff.
We continue to take any threat to our community very seriously, and we will always act swiftly and with great caution. We will update our community with any pertinent information, and we will plan to communicate with our families and staff by Monday.
Yours most respectfully,
Erin
Principal, Lake Forest High School
O: 847-582-7315
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