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VERNAL — A student was taken into custody and removed from a high school after authorities said he told his teacher and classmates he had a gun in his backpack Monday morning.
Uintah County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a report of a possible student with a weapon at Uintah High School, located at 1880 W. 500 North, the sheriff’s office posted on Facebook. The student told classmates he had a gun and then left the classroom, the sheriff’s office said in a statement. After the student left, the teacher alerted school administrators.
Staff and a deputy assigned to the school quickly located the student, and took him into custody. The sheriff's office said the student didn’t actually have a gun, and there was no threat to the school or any of its students.
No lockdown was needed because the student was found quickly and the threat was unfounded, the sheriff’s office added.
“Again, there is no threat to Uintah High School or its students,” authorities said.
Monday's incident was the second scare at a Utah school within the past few days. On Friday, a student at Brighton High School posted a video of a paintballing gun on Snapchat and a threat that warned people to get out of the school was eventually added to the post, Canyons School District spokesman Jeff Haney said.
Haney said the student who posted the original video was questioned by police and it was determined there was no credible threat to the school.
