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BOUNTIFUL — Seven Bountiful schools were placed on a lockout as police searched for a suicidal man with a gun, police said.
The lockout was a precautionary measure while investigators attempted to pinpoint the exact location of the man, according to Bountiful police Asst. Chief Ed Biehler. A lockout prevents people from going into the school while business continues as normal inside, he said.
Bountiful Elementary School, Bountiful High School, Mueller Park Junior High School, Valley View Elementary School, Millcreek Junior High School, St. Olaf School and Oak Hills Elementary School were under a lockout but the restriction was lifted by 3:30 p.m.
Police said the man recently moved to Woods Cross from Oklahoma. He called a suicide hotline in Oklahoma and told the operator that he was walking down 500 West, holding a gun to his head.
The man was detained by police without incident and is no longer a threat to public safety, according to Bountiful police. The search for the man began at approximately 1:40 p.m., according to investigators.
So many schools were placed on lockout based of pings from the man's cell phone, which police said came from two different places. However, the man was found and detained closer to his apartment than the schools.
Parents at Bountiful Elementary had to wait the longest to pick up their children. They also had to show school officials identification to have their children released to them.
However, nobody seemed upset by the extra safety precautions.
"I'd rather they did that and have the kids all safe than not do that," said parent Alison Pearce.
Contibuting: Dave Cawley
