Cary-Grove High School student charged with disorderly conduct in connection with threat

CARY – An 18-year-old Cary-Grove High School student was charged Wednesday with disorderly conduct after posting a social media threat Monday directed at the school.

Daniel M. Battaglia of Cary was arrested about 1 p.m. at Cary-Grove High School and charged with disorderly conduct, a Class 4 felony, according to a news release from Cary police.

Battaglia remained in the McHenry County Jail as of Wednesday evening, and his bail had not been set, jail records show.

He’s set to appear in court Thursday morning, and he could face up to three years in prison if convicted.

Battaglia is a senior at Cary-Grove High School, Cary Deputy Police Chief Jim Fillmore said.

The source of the latest Cary-Grove scare was three photos of social media threats circulated Monday night on Facebook and Snapchat involving violent acts. Multiple people reported the images to police about 7 p.m. Monday, Fillmore said, which caused an increased police presence at the high school Tuesday.

One of the images was fabricated, a second image was reposted but not created by the person whose name was attached to it, and the third image contained false information distributed by multiple individuals in response to the fabricated image.

Portions of the case still remain under investigation, according to the release.

Several school and law enforcement agencies, along with the FBI, have helped investigate.

“The initial broadcast was manipulated and sent out again to try to amplify more of a disturbance,” Fillmore said, “so we obviously have to look further into this because that caused a lot of people to be alarmed.”

Fillmore said the threats made to Cary-Grove High School on Monday do not appear to be connected to another social media threat that occurred Jan. 31.

A “broad” social media threat delivered that day sparked a Cary police investigation that revealed there was no actual threat to students or the school.