Bellwood Police are investigating suspicious activity reported Tuesday.
Reportedly a man approached two children who were playing inside a fenced yard on Clark Street about 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, about a block from the Elementary School.
As he walked to the fence, one of the kids saw him and screamed. Their dad heard and came around to see the man running off. Police say the man made no attempt to talk to the children.
Someone told the school district, which then alerted Bellwood Police.
“The security and the safety of the kids is paramount and we take that very seriously and when the text went out this morning, that was to let everyone know that there was something reported to us,” said Jeff Hanna, Bellwood Area School District (BASD) Security Officer. “We responded to it, we’ve increased our security, and alerted the staff.”
“Our initial reaction was to make sure everyone was safe,” said Dr. Thomas McInroy, BASD Superintendent. “We’d rather be safe than sorry, so it might have been overly cautious, but that’s okay. We can say that now, but at the time, we didn’t know.”
McInroy says he can assure parents after talking with police that there is no imminent threat. He urges parents and residents to contact police if they see anything suspicious before putting it on Facebook or social media.
Bellwood Police say they’re still investigating the incident and they’re asking anyone with information to contact them.