In a bizarre turn of events, a mistaken lockdown at the College of Lake County in Grayslake left students and faculty puzzled and concerned. What seemed like a serious security threat turned out to be a miscommunication attributed to a nearby law enforcement training exercise. Let's unravel the chain of events that led to this unexpected situation and reflect on the importance of clear communication in such scenarios.
A brief lockdown at the College of Lake County early Wednesday was due to an erroneous report of a law enforcement training exercise at the old Lake County Fairgrounds, authorities said.
Grayslake Police said on their Facebook account that officers were called to the area of Rt. 45 and Center Street at about 9:45 a.m. for a report of a man with a gun, authorities said.
Due to the call, CLC officials released an emergency text announcement at 9:53 a.m. calling for an external lockdown of the Grayslake Campus on nearby Washington Street.
The text from CLC continued, “Dangerous conditions exist nearby that require locking all exterior doors at the campus” and “Students were also urged to stay inside and check email for updates.”
Grayslake Police said in the announcement it was quickly determined the parties involved in the original call were related to a law enforcement K-9 training exercise taking place at the old Lake County Fairgrounds site on Center Street.
Multiple marked police vehicles related to the training were on location at the time of the report, authorities said.
With the new information, CLC officials lifted the lockdown.
Grayslake Police added, “As a result of this incident, we were made aware that the College of Lake County initiated a brief lockdown of their Grayslake campus. This training exercise is not related to the Grayslake Police Department and we were not made aware it was being conducted.”
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