Champaign Superintendent shares message following lockdown at middle school

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCIA) — Jefferson Middle School in Champaign was placed on a hard lockdown Wednesday afternoon after students thought they saw a gun in a passing car

Stacey Moore, the Chief Communications Officer for the Champaign School District, said a group of students outside on lunch recess reported the possible weapon. They were immediately escorted into the building and the building was placed on a hard lockdown.

Deputy Police Chief Geoffrey Coon said that due to the nature of the report, many officers were dispatched to the school to ensure safety and speak with eyewitnesses. After reviewing security video, officers later determined that the gun in question was actually a plastic toy gun. Coon said the Champaign Police Department believes the school was never in danger and the lockdown has been lifted.

Officers remained in the area to continue investigating and to locate the car that had the toy gun inside. They remained at the school through the end of the day.

Thursday morning, Superintendent Dr. Sheila Boozer sent out the following statement to the Unit 4 School District community:

Dear Unit 4 Families,

We want to share an important message with you regarding a dangerous game that is trending on social media. Centennial High School families have already received a similar message, but we thought it was important to share with all of our families as we work to ensure the safety and security of our students and staff.

Some students are participating in a game called “Assassin” or “Gotcha.” This typically involves students using water guns or airsoft guns to “kill” or “tag” each other. There are various “rules” and variations of this game, but please understand that this game IS DANGEROUS for many reasons.

While it may seem like “harmless play,” this game can lead to physical injury, police involvement (like we experienced yesterday near Jefferson Middle School), and even death if authorities mistake these as real weapons. To read about a “real world” example of these potential harmful consequences, read this article .

School administrators will refer to the Unit 4 Student Code of Conduct to issue school-level consequences should this “game” be played on school grounds. Please understand that some of these toy guns look very real and could be coded as a “lookalike weapon” which could lead to a student’s expulsion from Unit 4 Schools.

We encourage you to talk to your student about this important topic. The safety of our students and staff remains a top priority.

Sincerely,

Dr. Sheila Boozer, Superintendent of Champaign Unit 4 School District

Officers are also looking for any other witnesses and tipsters with information about this incident. Anyone who has further knowledge is asked to call the Champaign Police Department at 217-351-4545 or, to remain anonymous, Champaign County Crime Stoppers at 217-373-8477.

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