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KEARNS — Oquirrh Hills Elementary School was fully evacuated Wednesday afternoon after a police officer found a suspicious package that was found to be non-threatening, officials said.
Earlier in the afternoon, two people who appeared to be in their teens or early 20s wearing hooded sweatshirts allegedly left a cardboard box on the front entrance of the school, according to Granite School District spokesman Ben Horsley.
A Granite School District officer found the box and called the Unified Police Department for back up, UPD reported.
The school went on soft lockdown around 2 p.m., and school continued normally until the students were evacuated to four relocatable buildings at the back of the school, Horsley said.
Police said a couple houses in the area were evacuated as well.
Unified Fire Authority responded to the situation with explosive experts and determined it was not a threat around 3 p.m.
Students were able to walk back into the school shortly after. Families were also permitted to go back to their homes.
School then proceeded as normal so students would not be alarmed, and parents were encouraged to stay off campus and pick their children up when school let out at 3:45, Horsley said.
"We obviously have to take any sort of threat to student safety very seriously regardless of the outcome," Horsley said, adding that they were grateful nothing threatening was in the box.
Horsley said cameras took detailed pictures of the people who left the package, and he believes police will locate them quickly.
