SOUTH SALT LAKE — A Utah man is facing criminal charges accusing him of threatening a South Salt Lake elementary school where administrators were upholding a protective order.
Christopher Lamping, 38, was charged Wednesday in 3rd District Court with making threats against a school, a third-degree felony; and violating a protective order, a class A misdemeanor.
Police say Lamping was not allowed to contact his child, a student at an elementary school near 450 East and 3700 South. On May 19, however, he called the school claiming to be the student's uncle in an effort to reach the child, according to charging documents.
When a school employee told him that she could not release any information to him because he was not on the "child's registration card," Lamping replied, "This is why bad things like Columbine happen at schools," apparently referencing the 1999 mass shooting at Columbine High School in Colorado that resulted in 16 deaths.
When the employee asked Lamping what he meant, he said, "Bad things happen when family members can't contact kids," according to the charges.
"A heightened police presence was requested at the school following the threats," prosecutors noted.
Officers, "with the assistance of the school staff who could recognize (Lamping's) voice from previous interactions," were able to identify Lamping as the person who made the call, the charges state.
Police also learned that Lamping had been served with a protective order in April, prohibiting him from having direct or indirect contact with the child.
"(Lamping's) threats were unnerving to the school to the point where a police presence was requested to ensure the safety of the students and the staff," the charging documents state. Prosecutors requested that he be held without the possibility of posting bail pending trial.
