Junior High Student Took Bomb to School

Junior High Student Took Bomb to School


Save Story
Leer en espaƱol

Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes

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 Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information.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.

Samantha Hayes reporting The students at a Kearns junior high school are safe, but apparently only after another student blocked a plan to explode a bomb.

Four Thomas Jefferson Junior High students are in police custody for planning to set off an explosive device inside the school.

Police say a student and his friends found out how to make the bomb on the internet at a public library. They took it to school with a victim in mind.

Matt Metcalf/ Student: "This is the first time I've been at school where we had someone come to our school with a bomb."

Matt Metcalf, like most of students, found out after the fact.

Tuesday afternoon one of his fellow students spotted a classmate with something suspicious.

Shelly Pierce/ Asst. Principal, Thomas Jefferson Junior High: "It was an explosive device."

And police say the intent was to harm another student.

Lt. Todd Rassmussen/ Granite School Police: "Approximately three weeks ago they had bumped into one another in the lunch room and exchanged a few words, and there was nothing more than that, as far as everybody involved. They thought the issue had been resolved until we were called here yesterday."

Four students were arrested and charged. And the school sent this notice home to parents Wednesday:

"...an observant student came to the office to report seeing a student with something suspicious. The student reported that it may not be anything real, but felt it was important to tell someone. An administrator immediately retrieved the suspicious item from a student."

Ruth Metcalf/ Parent: "They never said bomb in there, they just talked in general terms and that it had been resolved."

Parents and students still have questions but are thankful that someone was paying attention.

Ruth: "Just like the principal's letter said, the hope that every parent would want their child to do that."

Police have also searched the homes of those students now in custody. More explosive materials were found.

Most recent Utah stories

Related topics

Utah

STAY IN THE KNOW

Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

KSL Weather Forecast