5 in custody after gun threat at Highland Park High School

An Aurora police officer today shot a person who was allegedly armed with knives at a house in the 900 block of Colorado Avenue in Aurora.

Five Highland Park High School students are in custody after district officials said a gun was brought to the campus earlier today.

Initially, district officials reported two students were taken into custody, but city officials posted on the city’s Facebook page that five students were in custody.

District officials were notified of the threat just before 10:30 a.m. and immediately reported the tip to police, District 113 Superintendent Bruce Law wrote in a statement to the community.

A lockdown of the school was ordered, along with lockdowns at two nearby elementary schools and the public library, which were being used as polling sites for Tuesday’s election.

“The student alleged to have a gun was identified, and security footage indicated that he and another student had left the building,” Law said. “Law enforcement conducted a sweep of the building while other police searched for the two students who had left the building. Both students have been apprehended.”

There’s not word on whether a firearm was recovered.

The lockdown was lifted just before 12:30 p.m. and students were dismissed for the day, and all after-school activities and sports were canceled as well.

The lockdown kept voters from polling sites at Braeside Elementary, Red Oak, Elementary and Highland Park Public Library.

Lake County Clerk Anthony Vega said those sites will now stay open until 8:35 p.m. to make up for the time lost during the lockdown.

Unrelated to the lockdown, the JIC Community Development Center located at 202 S Genesee St. in Waukegan will also receive extended hours and now close at 7:40 p.m. due to a brief delay in opening, Vegan announced.

Jake Griffin Daily Herald Media Group

Jake Griffin is the assistant managing editor for watchdog reporting at the Daily Herald