Funeral allegedly led to text threat

SHOREWOOD, Ill., Feb. 20 (UPI) -- Authorities in Shorewood, Ill., have charged a woman with sending a threatening text message to a firefighter after she became stuck in funeral traffic.

Shorewood Police Chief Robert Puleo said Clara Plut, 20, was charged with disorderly conduct after she allegedly sent a text message to a firefighter acquaintance threatening to kill another firefighter, the Joliet (Ill.) Herald-News reported Thursday.

Puleo said Plut reportedly was upset by traffic delays caused by the funeral procession for former Troy Fire Protection District Chief Kerry Sheridan.

He said the firefighter who received the message showed the text to the firefighter Plut allegedly targeted with the threat, who was "alarmed and disturbed" by the message.

Puleo said the firefighter's concern was amplified by the recent fatal shootings at a Lane Bryant store in Tinley Park, Ill., and the rampage at Northern Illinois University.

"With NIU, with Tinley Park, with all the other things that are going on, he took it very seriously," Puleo said.