Lehi students return to class after morning lockdown

LEHI — School resumed for students at Lehi Junior High around noon after a harried morning that was prompted by a report of a person in the neighborhood carrying a gun.

After putting the school on lockdown and searching classrooms and lockers, SWAT team officers were unable to find any weapons or any suspicious people.

Lehi Police Sgt. Darren Paul said police received a call around 7:35 a.m. from a person who said that a 12- to 14-year-old boy was seen walking toward the junior high near 700 East and 900 North with what looked like a shotgun covered with a sock or pillowcase, said Lehi Police Sgt. Darren Paul.

But about two hours later, a boy came forward to police to say he was going to a friend's house with his gun to prepare for pheasant hunting season, which opens Saturday, officers said.

Officials could not confirm Friday morning if the boy who talked to police was the individual the 911 caller saw.

After talking with administrators, Lehi police put the junior high on lock down and the nearby Sego Lily Elementary School, at 550 E. 900 North in Lehi on high alert, which means parents and children could come and go through one monitored door.

Students at the junior high remained in the auditorium, listening to the choir sing and watching the cheerleaders perform, but mostly just waiting for the lockdown to clear.

"It was really crazy to see a bunch of (guys from the) SWAT team," said 14-year-old Trevor Petersen. "(We thought) there was someone in the school with a gun. We thought it might be a continuing of all those shootings lately."

Petersen said some kids were worried, while others thought it was all a drill and kept talking and goofing off.