By WMBD TV

WASHINGTON, Ill. – A 22-year-old student teacher at John L. Hensey School in Washington was arrested for allegedly sending a social media message about shooting a child.

According to the Tazewell County Sheriff’s Office, deputies were called at about 1 p.m. Wednesday to the school which is in District 50, There, they were told that a student teacher allegedly sent a social media message about shooting a child.

The context of the allegations was not immediately known. An official with the sheriff’s office did not have access to the reports regarding the incident.

However, an email sent to parents stated the teacher, Kristen Volpe, had been observing a classroom and was also in an online chat with a small group of friends on a social media site.

A student got up from his seat, and closed her laptop, disconnecting her from the chat. When she logged back into the chat, she “sent her friend group a series of messages explaining what had happened and posed the question of whether she should ‘shoot’ the student,” according to the email.

That comment triggered a response from the social media site to law enforcement who quickly determined Volpe had no intent to cause any harm and had made the comment out of “exasperation,” the email stated.

There was no threat to anyone at the school and in fact, no one was aware of what had happened, the email stated. However, she will not be returning to the district to student teach.

She was taken to the Tazewell County Jail where she was detained, according to online jail records. A search of Tazewell County Circuit Court did not indicate if she had been formally charged.

The email concluded, “this incident serves as a reminder for all persons in the school community that neither violence nor the use of threatening language will be tolerated at our schools.”

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