Summit Academy High School locked down after series of unrelated events
May 17, 2022, 5:58 PM | Updated: May 18, 2022, 10:19 am
Summit Academy is pictured in Bluffdale on Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2020. Photo credit: Steve Griffin, Deseret News
BLUFFDALE, Utah — Summit Academy High School in Bluffdale went on lock down Tuesday afternoon. Police are now calling it a “perfect storm” of events with no real threat to the school.
Authorities say this started with two Instagram posts from students posing with guns. According to police, those were airsoft guns, and the photos weren’t taken today. A photo sent to KSL shows a young man holding a gun with the caption “S**t goes hard.”
“They [the photos] were saved and just shared today…wishing a happy birthday to one of the individuals,” said Saratoga Springs/Bluffdale Police Department Assistant Police Chief Bill Robertson.
Summit Academy High School in Bluffdale went on lock down Tuesday afternoon. Authorities say this started with two Instagram posts from students posing with guns. According to police, those were airsoft guns. Photo credit: Saratoga Springs/Bluffdale Police.
At the same time, police say there were some rumors coming from some students in classes that there might be a fight. And police say there was another student who ran from a teacher.
“And at that point they [the school] thought they had something major about ready to kick off,” Robertson said.
That’s when the school called authorities.
“[There were] no injuries, no weapons on campus, the school did exactly what they should have done with all those things coming together,” said Robertson. “And it turned out good.”
Worried parents
Amid all of this, a text went out to parents saying there was no threat, but many parents showed up to the school as some kids were texting to leave.
“This is scary for schools and students, they want to be safe, parents want them to be safe. And so, make better decisions, and do not take photos posing with weapons,” Robertson said.
Police are also pointing out that while there was nothing necessarily illegal about posting a photo with a gun on social media, it’s not a good idea.
“[Was it] illegal? No. Wrong? Posting pictures of handguns on social media and sharing them with people that now get on campus. That is not smart.”
Read more:
- Police find the gun that triggered an hours-long lockdown at West High
- Logan High School goes into lockdown after a man comes on campus with a gun
