CAHOKIA HEIGHTS - On Friday afternoon, Feb. 6, 2026, a woman was taken into custody after authorities said a school employee in Cahokia Heights received repeated telephone threats.
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The St. Clair County Sheriff’s Department said it was contacted at 2:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 6, by officials from Cahokia School District 187 about threats received by telephone at a school at 1900 Mousette Lane in Cahokia Heights. The department said its resource officers assigned to the school immediately began an investigation.
Authorities said they determined the suspect, Rochelle L. Tate, had contacted a school employee and was upset that the employee had a conversation with her child, who is a student at the school.
“Tate then told the employee that she was going to shoot them when they left school for the day,” the St. Clair Sheriff’s Department said in a statement. The department said Tate “subsequently contacted the school in excess of 30 additional times and reiterated her threats.”
Deputies responded to Tate’s residence, where she was taken into custody and transported to the St. Clair County Jail “without further incident,” the department said.
On Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026, Tate was charged with disorderly conduct, a Class 4 criminal felony, for communicating threats of violence or bodily harm, according to the sheriff’s department.
“Members of the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Department, the Cahokia Heights Police Department, and Cahokia School District have zero tolerance for violence or threats of violence at schools, and will investigate all incidents to hold those individuals accountable for their actions,” the statement said.
Under an Illinois Supreme Court requirement, all persons charged with a crime are innocent until found guilty in a court of law.
