Fake grenade prompts real evacuation of Utah elementary school


Save Story

Estimated read time: Less than a minute

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

TAYLORSVILLE — Taylorsville Elementary School was briefly evacuated Tuesday after a student brought a suspicious device to school.

The device turned out to be a "training/facsimile grenade," said Granite School District spokesman Ben Horsley.

A first-grade student brought the device to school, 2010 Mantle Ave., Tuesday morning. It was not immediately known where the student got the fake grenade.

A teacher was alerted after the boy pulled out the device in class and showed it to a few friends, Horsley said.

After the situation was brought to the attention of a school secretary, the building was evacuated for about 20 minutes, Horsley said. He said about 500 students and faculty members were taken across the street to a church to stay warm while Unified firefighters cleared the building and determined the device was harmless.

Most recent Utah stories

Related topics

Pat Reavy, KSLPat Reavy
Pat Reavy interned with KSL in 1989 and has been a full-time journalist for either KSL or Deseret News since 1991. For the past 25 years, he has worked primarily the cops and courts beat.
KSL.com Beyond Series
KSL.com Beyond Business

KSL Weather Forecast

KSL Weather Forecast
Play button