Police: Online school shooting threat at Bingham High is not credible

SALT LAKE CITY — Screenshots of an online school shooting threat made Wednesday circulated through the South Jordan community. Authorities could not confirm the threat’s validity immediately, but hours later said the threat was not credible.

The screenshots showed a text message and a written note indicating that an anonymous person’s goal was to shoot an assault rifle at “BHS,” and listed “20 kids” and “10 staff” that the person intended to harm on March 14. Some students and parents in the South Jordan area interpreted the threat to be against Bingham High School.

“The threat does not specifically mention Bingham High School, it just states ‘BHS,’ and there is no other information that is directly linked to Bingham,” said Sgt. Anderson with South Jordan police.

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Anderson told KSL TV that police interviewed a student who said he got the threat from outside of Utah.

“The Bingham student we interviewed states he received the social media post from a friend in Washington state. We’re waiting on an emergency info request from Meta to confirm the source. We will have an extra police presence at Bingham tomorrow as a precaution,” Anderson said.

According to a Bingham High School parent, Todd Johnson, Bingham High School sent a letter out to parents Wednesday:

Dear Parents,

Bingham High School and South Jordan Police are aware of a social media post circulating online. The school administration is currently working with police to identify the source and validity of the post. South Jordan Police have asked that you refrain from reporting the post to authoritites while they conduct their investigation to keep emergency service lines open.

We thank you for your diligence in keeping students and staff safe.

We will update you as soon as we have new information.

Student safety is our top priority.

Thank you for your support.

Todd Johnson’s daughter, Emily Johnson said she was scared, even if the chances of danger are low.

“Even if there’s a 1% chance that it’s real, I’m not going to school. I’m still scared of that 1% chance,” she said. 

School is not canceled tomorrow for Bingham High School. Todd Johnson said his daughter won’t be at school tomorrow anyway due to a theatre event with the school, but there’s no way he would have sent her if not. He said it’s not worth the risk.

At approximately 10:45 p.m., Anderson told KSL TV that police would continue to investigate the issue but “we’re now confident it originated out of state, was not directed at Bingham, and not credible; but we’ll still have significant extra presence at the school tomorrow throughout the day.”

The threat came just one day after Gov. Spencer Cox signed a new bill into law that penalizes those who falsely report school shootings.