Body cam video shows arrest of teen at center of Mueller Park Jr High lockdown


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FARMINGTON — Criminal charges were filed Thursday against a 15-year-old boy who police say took two guns to school and fired one of them in a classroom before he was stopped by his parents.

The Bountiful boy, appearing by video with his father at his side, heard the charges against him read in court before 2nd District Juvenile Judge Mark Andrus. He is charged as a juvenile with two counts of theft, a second-degree felony, discharging a firearm, a third-degree felony, and two counts of possession of a firearm on school premises, a class A misdemeanor.

Prosecutor Ryan Perkins said a motion is pending to certify the teen as an adult, which could move the case out of the juvenile court system.

The boy's attorney, Lindsay Jarvis, informed the judge that she is seeking a psychological evaluation for the teenager.

Detention will be addressed Dec. 22 at a hearing that is being called the boy's initial court appearance. Until then, he will remain in custody.

In the brief moments he spoke, asking a question about his attorney, the shaggy-haired boy seemed stoic. Little else was discussed during the abrupt hearing.

The boy was arrested Dec. 1 after police say he took two guns — a 12-gauge shotgun and a 9 mm handgun, as well as ammunition for both weapons — from his parents' home and brought them with him to Mueller Park Junior High School in Bountiful, 955 E. 1800 South.

Investigators say the guns the boy took are normally locked in his parents' safe.

The boy walked unannounced into a science class, and without saying a word, fired a blast from the shotgun into the ceiling in front of 26 students and a teacher, witnesses reported.

It was during the next pivotal seconds that police said a teacher and a student in the class, who was a friend of the boy, spoke to him, urging him not to do anything else. The boy hesitated, and his parents, who had heard the shot, came running in to disarm and restrain him.

In the moment he paused, police said the boy pointed one of the guns at himself.

Video from Bountiful police body cam

The parents told police they had noticed concerning changes in their son's behavior, including variations in his routine that morning, that caused them to check and realize the firearms were missing. They then went searching the crowded hallways at the school for the boy, finding him in the classroom.

Police released nearly 12 minutes of body camera footage Thursday of the first officer to respond to the school, rushing to the scene from another call just minutes away. The video shows "the officer's professionalism in dealing with a critical incident in the school and ensuring the safety of the students, faculty and staff," Bountiful Police Lt. Dave Edwards said.

In the video, the officer, who is seated in his car, receives a call of a student with a gun at Mueller Park Junior High, immediately jumping from his car to tell the person he was previously dealing with that he has to go. He then speeds off, informed as he drives that the mother of the boy has the gun and that no one is hurt, arriving just over a minute later at the front doors of the school.

The officer proceeds quickly and cautiously into the doors of the school, checking the front office before loudly announcing himself as a police officer through the empty halls. A voice responds, "Down here, down this way," and the officer hurries down the hallway to where the boy's parents have him detained.

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In the video, the boy's father is seen holding him with his face against the wall and his hands behind his back, while his mother stands off to the side holding the two guns. The officer asks the woman to please put the guns down, and as she does, something black on the floor, possibly the boy's coat, comes into view, with several red shotgun shells spilling out of it and what appears to be a box of ammunition for the handgun off to the side.

The officer immediately places the boy in handcuffs without incident as his father steps aside, makes contact with dispatchers on his radio, and prepares to search the teen. As he does, the boy's father is seen moving a backpack away, pulling an apparently empty shotgun shell box from it before dropping both items onto the pile on the floor.

Through the rest of the video, the officer identifies a teacher nearby, provides instruction to other officers as they enter the locked down school and begin their search and response, and requests that someone work with the parents while someone else watches and then takes custody of the guns and ammunition on the floor.

During the officer's interactions with him, the teen, dressed in black cargo pants and a black T-shirt, remains quiet and still, appearing to speak only when questioned by the officer. His answers are redacted from the video.

Throughout, the officer speaks calmly when he addresses the teen, asking at one point, "Are these too tight, man?" as he checks the handcuffs.

The video ends as the boy is escorted back to the school's office, while a line of additional officers enters through the front doors.

Police at the time, including more than 100 officers from several law enforcement agencies, said they expected the scene at the junior high would be much worse.

"What we were envisioning was very different than what ultimately ended up playing out — and I am so grateful," Bountiful Police Chief Tom Ross said.

Court officials say the teen has no previous history with the juvenile court system.

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McKenzie Romero

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