(photo courtesy Fox 13) A woman hugs her child after police responded to Lone Peak High School in Highland, Utah, on Oct. 25, 2019 after somebody called in and said they thought they saw somebody with a gun. It was a mix-up. The original caller thought they saw a person with a gun at Highland High School in Salt Lake City.
A report of a suspicious person at Highland High School in Salt Lake City was misconstrued, sending multiple agencies to sweep the high school in Highland — more than 30 miles away — for a possible gunman that did not exist.
It all started Friday morning when someone saw a man at the Salt Lake City high school and something seemed off. That person notified school officials about the man, and the school resource officer there reviewed surveillance footage and determined nothing was wrong, Salt Lake City police spokesman Detective Michael Ruff said. The man was just a vending machine contractor.
However, that initial report was relayed to someone else — and that’s where the message was muddled, Lone Peak police Sgt. Daniel Anderson said.
That person called police dispatchers trying to report a possible gunman at Highland High School, but ended up talking to those who have jurisdiction over the high school in Highland. That resulted in more than 100 officers from over 20 police departments being sent to the only high school in town: Lone Peak.
Anderson said his agency, the Utah County Metro SWAT team and others descended on the school, which has a student population of more than 2,500, around 12:30 p.m.
The school was locked down with students stuck in their classrooms for about two hours as police searched each room one-by-one, Anderson said.
Police found nothing and no one suspicious, and the department announced around 2 p.m. that they’d cleared the building.
While Lone Peak students and their parents were shaken up by the ordeal, Anderson said everyone did exactly what they should in this situation.
A person heard something concerning, thought students were in danger and called police. Police responded to check out the threat, and in the end — despite the misunderstanding — everyone was OK.
“The thing that is important for people to know is that we’re treating it like lives are being threatened, so we go in there with a purpose," Anderson said. “We’re going in there to do a job. People should expect that.”
Alpine School District spokesman David Stephenson said students and teachers had been practicing new protocols for situations like the one Friday for about a year, and he said everyone followed those procedures just as they’d practiced.
“Honestly, except for the emotional toll is took on the kids, they all did an amazing job. We feel good about the fact that we can feel proud of our students and parents for following the protocol,” he said.
Stephenson added that the school has counselors available if any students need assistance over the weekend.
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