ROOSEVELT — A Duchesne County teen faces felony charges after his parents reported he had made a bomb and threatened to detonate it at school.
The 16-year-old Union High sophomore allegedly told his parents during an argument that he would use the homemade bomb they had found in his room to "blow up the high school and himself," according to Duchesne County sheriff's deputies who are investigating the case.
The argument arose when the teen's parents would not give the bomb back to him, deputies said. A search of their son's room also turned up a page of handwritten notes on different types of bombmaking. The note did not mention Union High School, and according to investigators, the boy did not refer to a location or time when he made the alleged bomb threat during the argument.
The boy's parents took him to a session with his mental health counselor the following day and reported the alleged threats. The counselor notified law enforcement.
"In this day and time when anyone says 'bomb and school' in the same sentence it's serious," said Deputy Wade Butterfield. "We have to look at it as a clear and present danger."
The bomb that was found is the size of a can of soda pop and included ingredients that are easily obtained in the area, according to investigators. If it had been detonated it could have potentially taken lives and seriously damaged property, authorities said.
Roosevelt police checked the teen out of school Thursday afternoon to assist investi- gators. The boy, who had no previous criminal record, was "very cooperative and up front," said Deputy Joe Summerell, but he had trouble understanding why his actions had caused such an uproar.
"He said he just wanted to experiment, to blow up some rocks on his grandfather's farm," said Butterfield. "There's no way of knowing if he's a kid who said something out of anger or if he's a bomb waiting to go off."
The teen was taken to Juvenile Detention in Vernal and has been referred to Juvenile Court on a second-degree felony of terroristic threat and a third-degree felony for possession of an incendiary device.
Union High Principal Brent Fieldsted described the teen as "just a normal student, nobody that would cause us any suspicion in that area."
He said the boy maintained good grades, was not a problem student and had friends.
Sheriff Sgt. Rick Coil praised the boy's parents for getting involved. "I would commend them for stepping up, knowing the difficulties involved there," said Coil. "It's a good thing, and more parents need to be involved with their kids' lives and recognize that."
E-mail: ubs@ubstandard.com