Lockdown scare at Whitney Young

Lavinia Huang, Editor

On Thursday October 12th, at around 3:15 pm, Whitney Young was on lockdown due to a potential threat outside. Principal Dr. Kenner came onto the intercom to firmly instruct everyone to immediately get inside a room, away from the windows and doors. Teachers and students instantly ran to safety as not a lot of information was known. Many teachers were quick to contact other students over the phone to ensure their safety as well. After a few minutes, people were informed that there was a homeless man walking around the school with a gun, and after another several minutes it was announced that police apprehended the man that was apparently threatening to shoot police officers at the academy down the block.

Fortunately, everyone was safe and no one was harmed, although it was a very scary moment for everyone, especially since gun violence is so prevalent all over the country.

“You hear about these things going on all the time but it doesn’t feel real until it happens to you,” said Isa Sanchez ‘20.

Luckily, it was a Third Thursday and most of the students had left the school already. Only faculty and students staying after for extracurricular activities were in the building. The lock down raised many concerns for teachers and parents alike. Even the local press picked up on the story;  DNA Info wrote a piece on the incident and included the perspective of the police.

After such a horrific incident, many students are expecting the school to crack down on security and reinforce many of the rules that have recently been dismissed, including showing IDs. A number of students expressed that they felt prepared from all of the lock down drills every year. At the end of the day, this is an experience Whitney Young as a community can learn from and hopefully can persuade other community members to support gun control to prevent these things from happening again.  

Lavinia Huang
View of the Chicago Police Academy right behind the trees from Whitney Young High School on Jackson Boulevard.