Boy accused of bringing knife to Naperville school

A boy is facing charges after allegedly bringing a knife to Hill Middle School in Naperville, authorities said.

The boy, who is not a student at Hill, is accused of wielding a knife at another boy with whom he got into a fight about 8 a.m. April 8, Naperville police Sgt. Bill Davis said.

Witnesses told police they saw a knife in the boy's possession at the school at 1836 Brookdale Road, which led to the boy being charged by the DuPage County state's attorney's office with assault and aggravated assault.

"(Officers) followed up and interviewed several witnesses who confirmed the subject was in possession of a knife," Davis said. "It appeared to be a kitchen knife of some sort."

The knife was not recovered, Davis and state's attorney's spokesman Paul Darrah said. But the boy was charged April 15 and released to his home pending a court date May 27.

Both charges the boy faces are misdemeanors. Darrah said the aggravated assault charge comes because the knife is alleged to have been shown on school property.

But in emails sent Monday to parents, principals at Hill and the nearby Brookdale Elementary did not mention the charges or the witness accounts of a knife. The emails, sent more than a month after police responded to the middle school, called word of a knife at Hill "rumors."

"I am aware there are rumors circulating of an alleged knife being brought to school," reads the email message sent to parents from Hill Principal Mike Dutdut and Brookdale Principal Mary Howicz. "School administrators became aware of allegations that a student brought a weapon to school and immediately contacted the Naperville police. No weapon was found."

Dutdut, Howicz and Indian Prairie Unit District 204 Superintendent Karen Sullivan did not respond to calls for comment.

The emails sent Monday said school officials "take great care in protecting all of our students."

"If we ever had a situation that involved a weapon at school, we would communicate, when possible, that information with parents directly," the emails read.

The name of the boy who has been charged was not released because he is younger than 18. Darrah said he could face up to 30 days in the youth detention home and up to 24 months of probation if convicted.