It might have been a prank, but it was unsettling to some Flossmoor residents.
A van blaring a siren and driving slowly through Flossmoor neighborhoods north and west of the downtown caused concern among some residents Wednesday night, according to reports on a local social media page.
The sound was described as the “purge siren,” referring to the horror TV series in which all crime is made legal during a period knows as “the purge,” which begins with a siren alert.
Several residents found the incident alarming, especially in the context of recent national news events, including the Christmas Day bombing in Nashville. In that case, an RV broadcast a warning message minutes before it exploded.
The incident also occurred hours after the U.S. Capitol was reclaimed after being overrun during the afternoon by rioters protesting the presidential election.
Flossmoor Police Chief Tod Kamleiter said the department received one report about the van from a resident shortly before 10 p.m. and sent an officer to investigate. The officer was not able to locate the vehicle.
Flossmoor police use several methods of communicating with residents, including eCOP, an email notification system, and Code Red, a reverse 911 system for phone notifications.
Kamleiter said if there ever was a situation requiring police to alert residents by loudspeaker in an emergency, officers would provide a verbal message, not just a siren.