Crime & Safety

Plainfield Man Charged After Gun Prompts School Lockdown

Oswego East High School was locked down Wednesday morning after a gun was found in a secured restroom.

Editor's note: Updated to include comments from District 308 Superintendent Matthew Wendt

By Natalie Stevens


A Plainfield man has been arrested in the Oswego East High School incident that occurred Wednesday morning when a gun was found in a faculty restroom, said Oswego police.

Michael T. Martin, 62, of the 25000 block of Cove Court, Plainfield, was arrested and charged with the unlawful use of a weapon with an added enhancement because the gun was on school property, which made it a Class 3 Felony. 

Martin is contracted to work with the Oswego 308 District IT department.

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  • A gun was found in a secured faculty restroom at 9:12 a.m. at Oswego East by an OEHS staff member. The school was put into lockdown for safety while Oswego police conducted a through search of the building. No other weapons or suspicious items were found, police said.

    Staff was allowed to continue to teach during the search.

    At approximately 10:15 a.m. police said the lockdown was terminated and school activities resumed.

    "No students or staff were in any danger," said Brian Graves, Oswego 308 Director of Communications and Public Relations.

    Martin was booked at the Oswego Police Department and transported to Kendall County Jail to await a bond hearing from a Kendall County Judge.

    District 308 Superintendent Matthew Wendt released a statement Wednesday afternoon stressing that Martin is not employed by the district.

    "
    Mr. Martin is not a School District 308 employee," Wendt said. " He is employed by Sterling Engineering, which is a network engineering company that has been contracted to work on computer networks throughout School District 308. Mr. Martin was the only Sterling Engineering employee who had been assigned to School District 308, and had been working in the district since late April 2013. Prior to his assigned work with School District 308, Mr. Martin went through a comprehensive background check conducted by the FBI."

    Wendt's statement went on:

    "I want to extend my gratitude to an alert staff at Oswego East High School and all employees involved in the discovery of the handgun and subsequent investigation. I also want to extend my appreciation to Oswego Police Chief Dwight Baird and the Oswego Police Department. Chief Baird and members of his department were at Oswego East High School and partnered with School District 308. We have found no reason to believe that a student or staff member was in danger at any time and all School District 308 protocols and Board of Education policies for this type of incident were followed."


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