HUMBOLDT PARK — Students at a Humboldt Park alternative high school were dismissed from school Thursday, about two hours after report of a person with a gun sent the school into lockdown.
It was just after lunch period at West Town Academy, 534 N. Sacramento Blvd., when a group of students told teachers that five other students had brought guns with them to school, according to Tommy Coyle, a security staffer at the school.
"The students involved were some of our best students, so this was really disappointing," Coyle said. "But everyone cooperated, and we searched their lockers and got what we were looking for."
The "whole situation was resolved" before police even arrived at the school, he added.
Still, every classroom had to turn off its lights and lock its doors until police gave the all-clear nearly two hours later.
"It was just a long ordeal," Coyle said.
Students were let out of school around 3:15 p.m., the normal dismissal time. Police cruisers and officers in military-style uniforms surrounded the building as flocks of students chatted and joked on their way to the sidewalk.
"Do we still have to come to school tomorrow?" One student sheepishly asked a teacher as he marched out of the building.
"Yes, you still have to come," the man responded.
No ambulances were on the scene and no injuries were reported.
One person was taken into custody Thursday, and charges are pending, police said. One weapon was recovered from the school.
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