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Threat Leaves Batavia School With Half Its Pupils

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Apr 4, 2008 10:53 am US/Central

Threat Leaves Batavia School With Half Its Pupils

Someone Threatened To 'Shoot School' On Friday

BATAVIA, Ill. (Aurora Beacon News) ―

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Eighth-grader Cole Gardner was in no hurry to head to class this morning. In fact, he and his mother arrived at Rotolo Middle School more than an hour late after enjoying a leisurely restaurant breakfast on the way to school.

"Since he's probably the only kid in his class coming to school today, I figured we might as well stop and have some family time," said mom Debbie Gardner.

Batavia School District sources confirmed that 53 percent of Rotolo students took the day off, presumably because of a threat made public Tuesday that someone would "shoot school" today. A squad car was parked near the main entrance this morning, and uniformed police officers could be seen in the lobby near the front office.

"I don't think I believe this threat is real, but I understand why the School District is going through all this security stuff," said parent Bethany Hutto. "There are a lot of sick, angry kids out there, and school shootings do happen.

"It's sad that we have to pull police officers off the street to deal with it. I'm hoping whoever wrote the threat is just a bored brat who's totally out of line."

Cole Gardner said he and his friends weren't fazed by the extra security.

"They didn't search the backpacks as much as we were expecting them to," he said. "It hasn't really been that big a deal."

He also said he wasn't afraid to attend school today.

"I'm not really nervous," he said. "I think (whoever wrote the threat) was just messing around."

(CBS 2, the Naperville Sun and the Aurora Beacon-News are news partners covering stories in the western suburbs. Send story tips to tips@cbs2chicago.com. (© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.)