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WEST HAVEN, Weber County — A 12-year-old boy was taken into custody Wednesday after he allegedly wrote a threatening note that led to the evacuation and bomb sweep of Quest Academy, a charter school at 4862 W. 4000 South in West Haven.
Deputies evacuated the school about 2:30 p.m. Wednesday after receiving a call from school administrators. A student found and reported a note in the hallway saying that a bomb had been placed in a numbered locker and would soon detonate, said Weber County Sheriff's Lt. Lane Findlay.
Police and school officials evacuated more than 900 students to an LDS meetinghouse just east of the school while bomb technicians inspected the locker in question. Although no bomb was found, police used trained bomb-sniffing dogs to sweep the rest of the school as an extra precaution. No threats were found.
"Obviously we take (bomb threats) very seriously,” Findlay said. “Even though most of them pan out to be a hoax or a prank, we have to be very diligent in making sure that we've investigated and that safety is a priority."
Findlay said police have identified the student who they believe wrote the note. Findlay said the 12-year-old claimed he wrote it as a joke to people who might visit his locker.
“It doesn't appear that he had any intentions of actually carrying out anything,” Findlay said. Yet the boy could “quite possibly be facing criminal charges” such as making terroristic threats.
“Every time you have somebody that thinks it's a joke or that it's a hoax, it's certainly taxing on everyone as far as the manpower issues and making sure the evacuation is done safely,” Findlay said. “There's a lot that goes into it, so for somebody to think it's just funny to joke about, it really is not. It causes a lot of concern on everyone's part."
Allison Oligschlaeger is currently studying English and Arabic at the University of Utah while completing an internship with the Deseret News. Contact her at aoligschlaeger@deseretnews.com.
