Breaking News: Gun found in student’s bag at Oswego East

According to an email sent by OE Principal Laura Bankowski on Tuesday, Dec. 12, a student from Oswego East High School brought a bag into the building that contained a loaded gun, among other prohibited items.

The email was received by OE senior Nalani Lopez around 4:30 p.m., and explained that the weapon was discovered by the student’s classmate, who opened the student’s bag while he was attending a meeting in the office. 

“Students turned over the bag to school authorities who gave it to the Oswego East School Resource Officer, and a police investigation began,” explained Bankowski in her email.

Bankowski assured that the student had no intent of harm and cooperated with authorities. After assessing the safety of the situation, it was deemed unnecessary to initiate a schoolwide safety protocol, and classes continued as normal. 

The 15-year-old student was taken into custody at the Oswego Police Department and charged with:

• three felony counts of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon
• one felony count of unlawful use of a weapon
• one misdemeanor count of unauthorized storage/possession of a weapon

The student was then transported to the Kane County jail, where he will wait for his hearing.

Many OE students were unaware of the situation until they were notified by school administration in an email sent out at 10:46 a.m. that an investigation was being conducted within the building in regards to “the presence of concerning items in the backpack of another student.”

“We were all shocked about it, and we were trying to figure out what happened. No one really knew,” said Nalani Lopez, an OE senior who received the email during her lunch period. 

In this email, the administration reassured students that the situation was diffused and it was safe for the school day to continue as routine. The student body, however, was apprehensive about moving past the situation. 

“The rest of the day, everyone was talking about it,” said Lopez. “It was like wildfire.”

Around 2 p.m, the OE administration sent a follow-up email to reassure students that there was no safety concern and that more updates were to follow. 

In an email sent Tuesday evening by SD308 Superintendent Dr. Andalib Khelghati, SD308 families were notified of the incident and emphasized the importance of ensuring the safety of all students and staff.

“‘See Something, Say Something,’” wrote Khelghati, urging students to speak up in the case of a safety concern.

Both OE and OH have Student Resource Officers from the Oswego Police Department on the premises during the school day that are readily available to respond to students and act in the case of a safety threat.

“They need to feel safe here,” said Officer Tim Laurenzo, the Student Resource Officer at OH. “No one should have to come to school fearing for their safety.”

Additionally, schools in District 308 practice safety drills throughout the school year, including ALICE (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, and Evacuate), which addresses the case of a school shooting threat.

“Security measures are constantly monitored, updated, and improved upon,” Khelghati included in his email Tuesday evening. 

District administration thanked all those who worked to ensure the safety of students and staff and urged those with remaining questions to visit the safety page of the SD308 website or contact the administrative team for more information about safety procedures.