Gun incident puts school in Salt Lake on lockdown

A 15-year-old boy caused a scare at a Salt Lake middle school Monday after he brought a BB gun to class, police said.

A woman who lives near Northwest Middle School, 1730 W. 1700 South, saw a juvenile place what looked like a gun in the bushes in front of her house, said Salt Lake City police detective Robin Snyder. The boy walked toward the school, then came back, put the gun in his waistband and walked into the school, she said.

The woman called police, who notified the school while sending officers to the building.

"The school did a great job. They got the kids in lockdown in just one minute even though it was lunch time for many of them," said Salt Lake School District spokesman Jason Olsen.

Officers began a classroom-to-classroom search for the student. About a half-hour after the initial call, they said they found the juvenile sitting in a classroom still in possession of the BB gun.

"This looked almost exactly like a real gun," Olsen said.

The school remained on lockdown until about 3:15 p.m. as police interviewed the boy and at least three others who apparently knew of the gun but did not report it to any school officials, he said.

It was unknown Monday if the gun was loaded or what the boy may have been intending to do with it.

Olsen said that in addition to being taken to juvenile detention, the boy would be placed in alternative schooling until the conclusion of the investigation and any possible legal action.

"Right now, we'll let the police deal with their end first," he said.

Bringing a facsimile of a gun could bring the same penalties by the school district as if a real gun had been taken into the building.

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