CANTON Ill. (WMBD) — Following up on a school lockdown late Friday afternoon at Canton High School that ended up being a fake active shooter threat.
The call came in around 4 p.m. on Friday, which means most students had gone home for the day. For the students and staff that were still there, the school went on lockdown for at least 2 hours. All after-school events and practices were canceled.
Multiple agencies rushed into action, including the Canton police, Fulton County police, Farmington police, and Lewistown police.
After sweeping the school with canines, they found no credible threat and the staff and students were released from lockdown.
Canton Police Chief Mike Eveland says calling in an active threat like a shooter or bomb is a felony and can result in jail time.
“We were able to make contact at the school with some of the administrators that were still on scene and determined that there was not an active threat. At that point, we put all the schools on lockdown and then we just started dispersing the personnel throughout the town to cover each school and safely evacuate anybody that might still be inside,” said Chief Eveland.
The Canton Police Department is still investigating who called in the threat. They’re asking you to call their department or the school board if you have any information regarding this incident.
