PALATINE, IL — A Palatine High School student, who was being arrested in connection with a recent homicide, brought a loaded gun to the campus on Monday. Palatine police confirmed with Patch Friday that the student arrested was involved in the fatal shooting of Damian Hernandez, 15, of Mount Prospect.
“We can also say that at no time was there a direct threat made toward the school,” a Palatine Police Department representative told Patch.
Police also said Friday they are still searching for Jesus Pantoja, 18, of the 1500 block of Silver Lane, who is considered “armed and dangerous” and is wanted in connection with the slaying.
On Tuesday, a 14-year-old boy was charged with attempted murder, aggravated battery with a firearm, aggravated discharge of a firearm and aggravated unlawful use of a weapon in connection with the Aug. 17 shooting in the 1700 block of E. Clear Creek Bay. He is being held in custody at the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center in Chicago.
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According to a letter from Township High School District 211 administration sent to parents on Thursday, the school was not put on lockdown after the gun was found Monday because “the student was already in police custody and secured.”
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In the letter, co-signed by District 211 Superintendent Lisa Small and Palatine High Principal Tony Medina, officials said a parent meeting regarding the incident and the measures that were taken is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday, at Palatine High School.
According to the letter, the Palatine Police Department had informed school administration that a person of interest was being sought related to a previous incident in the community, not related to the school. Officials said the security team and administration were informed of the situation “in order to ensure our school safety, but we were unable to share it publicly at that time.”
When the student attempted to enter the school well after the school day had begun, they were stopped by the school’s security team and resource officer, the latter being an armed, on-duty Palatine police officer. The letter continues that the student was taken into custody within seconds of entering the front door, handcuffed and removed from campus by police within minutes.
Police found the loaded gun while security was securing the student.
“We can provide assurance that all steps are being taken to guarantee that there is no future threat to the Palatine High School community,” the letter reads.
Meanwhile, Hernandez’s mother, Brisa Montes, has set up a GoFundMe page to help pay for expenses tied to the shooting. Montes says “prayers are much-needed” following the death of her son, who succumbed to injuries sustained from gunshot wounds Tuesday night at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge.
On Aug. 17, Palatine police said they found Hernandez lying down with wounds to his upper body in the 1200 block of Long Valley Drive in unincorporated Palatine. Montes said after the incident, her son was hospitalized with damage to his spine, and was paralyzed from the neck down, “fighting for his life” on machines. Hernandez was pronounced dead at 11:14 p.m. Tuesday, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office.
“My heart is broken, as my family is as well, to have lost Damian and such a tragic way and useless way to gun violence,” Montes said in a GoFundMe post. As of Friday, more than $6,000 of a $35,000 goal has been raised.
RELATED: ‘My Heart Is Broken’: Mount Prospect Mom Mourns Loss Of Son Shot Dead
An investigation into the shooting death continues, and anyone with information about the shooting or the whereabouts of Pantoja is asked to call the Palatine Police Department at 847-359-9000.
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