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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A Utah teenager accused of triggering a massive police response and a 2-hour lockdown with a made-up story about an armed man at his school is facing a misdemeanor false-alarm charge.
Tim Taylor with the Utah County Attorney's Office said Friday that prosecutors have filed the case in juvenile court.
Police sent SWAT teams to conduct a room-by-room search of the Pleasant Grove school in the Dec. 3 incident that illustrated a climate of fear amid repeated mass shootings. Pleasant Grove is about 35 miles south of Salt Lake City.
No weapon was found, and investigators say he probably lied about seeing the man with a gun in a trench coat to get out of a class activity.
Authorities say they arrested him to show that it's not OK to tie up police resources and instill fear.
The teen's name has not been released.
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