A 17-year-old student sent threatening messages to a girl and brought a handgun to Alcott College Prep High School after class last week, police said. Now, the boy is facing a felony weapons charge in juvenile court. The school, located at 2957 North Hoyne, is just south of Roscoe Village in the North Center Community Area.
Area North Gang School Safety units worked with Alcott security to locate the boy yesterday in the 3100 block of North Leavitt. A handgun was recovered from the teen as he was taken into custody, police said.
Police said the boy sent threatening messages to a 16-year-old female student last Wednesday and the girl then reported that he brought a gun to Alcott and showed it to students after class.
Prosecutors charged the boy with felony possession of a concealed weapon and misdemeanor possession of ammunition without a valid Firearms Owner Identification card.
At precisely the same time the boy was allegedly displaying the handgun at Alcott last week, a Chicago police officer assigned to Lakeview High School (LVHS) was taking further battery reports in connection with a series of fights that erupted near that school’s campus after class on Friday, March 2.
The Chicago police department said only that “200 to 300” Lakeview students “walked out” of Lakeview on March 2, but police sources said that multiple fights broke out on the streets and in businesses near LVHS.
Two juvenile boys and one juvenile girl were taken into custody at Lakeview that day. Additionally, one 18-year-old LVHS student, Joshua Gaudin, was charged with mob action. Those under the age of 18 were not named by police due to their protected status as juveniles.
Following the March 2 incidents, LVHS Principal Paul Karafiol sent an email to parents promising “a stronger police presence” outside the school while “our security officers will ensure the perimeter of the building is clear before we release students.”
