Joliet West student arrested in bomb threat

The threat, found Wednesday in a school bathroom, was one of three threats the 14-year-old boy told police he wrote, said Joliet police Chief Fred Hayes. The student admitted to officers that he wrote the threats in hopes of getting out of school for the day. The youth is detained at the River Valley Juvenile Detention Center in Joliet until his expected court date Monday.

The first threat was found Oct. 9 written in black marker on a urinal in a boys' bathroom. There were two threats found Wednesday. In the morning, a threat was found on the urinal, referencing a bomb in a room of the school which doesn't exist, Hayes said. In the afternoon, another threat was found in a boys' bathroom in black marker on a urinal, referencing a bomb with a date, time and locker number.

A specialized canine unit from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms searched the school Thursday night, but did not find anything suspicious, Hayes said. Friday morning, all students were searched before entering the school at 401 N. Larkin Ave. Principal Teresa Gibson said with the assistance of administrators, deans, security and teachers all students were searched by 8:30 a.m. -- 10 minutes after classes started. Gibson said nothing was found during the searches and that student attendance was normal.

Hayes said what broke this case was a student alerting a parent about something overheard at school, including the name of a student who might be involved.

"It was exactly what you would hope to see in situations like this. Students coming forward, letting their parents know or someone in authority know that there's something wrong going on ... and making sure that information is passed along so we can check it out," Hayes said. "The student did the right thing