Dundee-Crown High School lockdown lifted after 'swatting' incident

CARPENTERSVILLE, Ill. - A lockdown at Dundee-Crown High School has been lifted after police investigated a threatening phone call the school received Wednesday morning.

 The school, located at 1500 Kings Road in Carpentersville, was placed on lockdown around 9 a.m. as a "precautionary measure" after someone made a threatening phone call to the school's front office, according to Supt. Susan Harkin.

"Please know, there is no incident occurring inside or outside the building. All students and staff are safe and under district and building supervision," Harkin said in a statement.

"To see that there was like so many police officers so many law enforcement and everything, it was really worrisome," said senior Donte Roman.

Around 10 a.m., SKYFOX captured students being led in lines out of the building and gathering near the school's tennis courts.

"Maybe ten feet away from us we heard police officers screaming to ‘Put your hands up and get on the ground!’" said freshman Joy Roman.

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At 12:07 p.m., the lockdown was lifted and students and staff returned inside the building to shelter in place.

Harkin released another statement to school families around 2 p.m. stating that the threatening phone call was a "swatting" incident.

"I have elementary kids and in middle school, scared to go to school. Right? And that's what these swattings are doing, it's terrorizing our students," said Retired Naperville Detective Rich Wistocki who now teaches school officials and law enforcement on ways to spot and trace swatting calls.

He says there are messaging apps that are being used for these fake threats.

"There's actually a crew that we're going after, some of my police department are going after, that is selling their services to do that," said Wistocki.

Roughly 2,500 students attend Dundee-Crown High School, which is roughly 40 miles northwest of Chicago.