Deputies beefing up presence at Skyline High following threat

EAST MILLCREEK — The Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office is increasing its presence at Skyline High School following a recent threat.

Late last week, a threatening message was discovered written on a bathroom wall. Although neither the school district nor the sheriff's office would confirm the exact content of that message, it reportedly was along the lines of a tragedy similar to the one at Columbine High School.

"We have to take that seriously. But we also don't want to create a mass panic," said sheriff's Lt. Don Hutson.

Granite District spokesman Ben Horsley said officials believe the message was written by students, and detectives had "several good leads" in the case.

As of Tuesday, investigators had not discovered any evidence other than the note on the wall to give the threat any more validity. But regardless of whether the message was intended to be a prank or for real, law enforcers and district officials said it has to be taken very seriously.

Students on Tuesday had a heightened awareness of potential threats and were more likely to report what they've seen or heard, Hutson said.

"People are more aware that this is not someone just trying to get out of school, that this could be a legitimate threat," he said.

How law enforcement reacts today to mass casualty threats is a direct result of Columbine, Hutson said.

"Columbine was kind of the benchmark for law enforcement," he said. "We live in a free country where people have a lot of access to weapons and a lot of access to public places. We had to really evaluate how we are going to respond to not only threats of, but mass casualty shootings."

Prior to Columbine, law enforcement would look to set up a containment. Now, when there is an active shooter incident and the possibility of a large number of injuries or death, new tactics have been developed to actively engage in the situation.

That training was highlighted by the Trolley Square shooting spree in 2007. Salt Lake police immediately formed a team to enter the mall as soon as they arrived on the scene and actively engaged the shooter, ending what could have been an even worse situation.

Since Columbine, there have been other tragedies such as those at West Paducah, Ky.; Moses Lake, Wash.; Springfield, Ore.; Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va.; and most recently Fort Hood, Texas.

Today, anytime investigators learn of a possible mass casualty incident being threatened, Hutson said all precautions will be taken.

"Whenever there's warning signs for that type of incident to occur, if you can get resources in the right place prior to it occurring, you're steps ahead," he said. "Law enforcement's response has to be very quick and very effective."

Hutson would not say how many days the increased presence at Skyline would be kept up. Horsley predicted the situation would be resolved soon.

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