FORRESTON, Ill. (WTVO) — Police in Ogle County are warning parents of a man in a black Audi sedan taking pictures outside of several area schools on Thursday morning.

According to Kings School Superintendent Matthew Lamb, school officials noticed the car parked across from the school and the subject taking “pictures of our surroundings and the front of the building” with a telephoto lens.

Lamb went outside to question the man, but he drove away.

The Ogle County Sheriff’s Department told the superintendent that the same car was seen at two other area schools the same morning.

Police will increase patrols at the schools as a precautionary measure, Lamb said.

“School safety is paramount. I mean, in the last ten years, we’ve spent literally millions of dollars trying to make our buildings more secure and safer for our kids,” said Meridian School Superintendent PJ Caposey.

“Our school resource officer is patrolling the streets as opposed to being inside the schools. Administratively, we will be much more present on the outside rather than on the inside, and that will contain and persist until we know that the threat or the perception of the threat is gone,” he added.

Ogle County Sheriff Brian VanVickle recommended that children walk in groups and not alone; avoid distractions such as cell phones and pay attention to their surroundings; run away from strangers and seek help from others; and immediately report any incident that makes them feel uncomfortable.

Police say they have determined who owns the vehicle, and are “actively seeking to speak with the driver.”