Glenbard West student charged with making bomb threat that led to school evacuation

A 17-year-old Glenbard West High School student has been charged with phoning in a false-alarm bomb threat that triggered an evacuation of the Glen Ellyn campus Thursday.

The student faces two felony counts of disorderly conduct. He is not being identified by name because the teen is a juvenile. The teen was being held in the Kane County Juvenile Detention Center.

Prosecutors said two voicemail messages were left stating a bomb would go off a short while later. The school was evacuated, and classes were canceled for the rest of the day. It was the second time in less than two weeks that a bomb threat forced the school to send students home early.

“While we believe this is likely another 'swatting' call, designed to instill panic within our school, in an abundance of caution, we are yet again implementing our off-site evacuation plan immediately,” Principal Peter Monaghan wrote in a message to families.

“Swatting” refers to when someone makes a prank call in hopes of drawing a large contingent of law enforcement to a particular address.

No threats were identified after a law enforcement search of the buildings, Glen Ellyn police said, and the campus was reopened around 2 p.m. Thursday.

At the onset of the investigation, a suspect was quickly identified, police said. Later in the evening, the suspect was taken into custody without incident after a traffic stop in Glendale Heights, authorities said.

Judge Joshua Dieden ordered that the teen be detained until at least his next court date, which is scheduled for May 12.

The bomb threat made on April 27 remains under investigation. Anyone with information about the two cases is asked to contact Glen Ellyn police at (630) 469-1187.