Police now have reason to believe that a Sept. 10 phone threat targeting Bartlett High School did not originate locally, with a federal investigation now ongoing, the Bartlett Police Department told the Tribune on Thursday.
Local police received notice on the afternoon of Sept. 10 from the National Suicide Hotline about a potential violent threat against Bartlett High School, which led to the cancellation of after-school activities and the enlisting of additional safety patrols during school dismissal. Eastview Middle School, Bartlett High School and multiple local elementary schools were placed in “secure building” status, with entrances secured and monitored.
On Thursday, the Bartlett Police Department said that it was working with federal partners, including the Department of Justice, in a “complex investigation” to determine the origin of the call. Investigators have found “numerous VPN servers and proxies” used to disguise the caller’s identity, some of which have been determined to be located outside of the United States, police said.
The Department of Justice declined to comment on the existence or nonexistence of any specific investigation.
While other threats targeting local schools in past weeks have been spread through social media networks, the threat against Bartlett, in the northwest suburbs, was placed over the phone to a suicide hotline. Dozens of schools in Chicago and its surrounding suburbs have received threats of violence since the beginning of the current school year.
