Davis County prosecutors filed a petition in juvenile court Tuesday against a North Layton Junior High School student who allegedly threatened to kill classmates on the anniversary of the Littleton, Colo., school shootings.
Details of the petition were not being released because the student is a juvenile, Deputy Davis County Attorney Brian Namba said in a written statement issued Tuesday. The threats surfaced at the school last week and were investigated by the Layton Police Department.The boy, whose identity remains confidential, is no longer in school, Davis School District officials said.
The district has taken action against the boy but cannot discuss that action, district spokesman Chris Williams said. The student denies the charge. Williams would not elaborate because of privacy concerns.
The anniversary of the Columbine High School shootings, which left 12 students and one teacher dead, including the two student gunmen, is Thursday.
North Layton school administrators alerted the on-campus resource officer to the threats, which launched the police investigation, Layton Sgt. Steve Brown said. Police won't say what the investigation revealed other than that there was a genuine concern that some people might be in danger, Brown said.
"It was important enough that it got our immediate attention, so we got on it right away," he said.
Rumors that the boy may have had accomplices in his alleged plot have proved unfounded, principal John Zurbuchen said.
"We are being asked by very concerned parents whether their kids are safe in school and if their kids should come to school on Thursday," he said. "We have told them if school is not safe, it wouldn't be open. This is a very safe place, safer today than it was last Monday."
Safer because people are talking. Since the threat incident, every rumor in the school is coming to the office or to the counseling center, Zurbuchen said.
"Students are talking to us, and we're hearing every possible rumor in school, which is a good thing," he said.
A written statement from the prosecutor's office issued Tuesday said that "no further disruption of school activities is expected."
PTA members are also stressing that rumors are just that and that parents have nothing to fear.
"I have no worries about the school being safe," said Shawna McCracken, the school's PTA president. She volunteers about 40 hours a week at the school her twins attend. "The day will come and go. I have no doubts about it whatsoever."
School officials postponed Thursday's spring dance out of parent concerns regarding the boy's threat. The dance's date happened to coincide with the Columbine anniversary.
"The main reason (for the postponement) was just to quell some feelings some parents and students had regarding the threats," Williams said. "I think it was an effort on the part of the school to just let people feel better about things."
Deseret News staff writer Jennifer Dobner contributed to this report. You can reach Maria Titze at mtitze@desnews.com and Jennifer Toomer-Cook by e-mail at jtcook@desnews.com