The parents went to their son’s junior high school to confront him when they noticed a handgun and shotgun were missing from their home

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Police said two fast-acting Utah parents disarmed their 15-year-old son in the hallway of a Utah junior high school Thursday after the teenager brought the family’s shotgun and handgun to school, discharging at least one round without injuring anyone.



Police chief Tom Ross of Bountiful, a city in northern Utah, said the boy’s mother and father became concerned about their son Thursday morning. They went to Mueller Park junior high when they noticed a handgun and shotgun were missing from their home. Ross said the parents confronted their son in a school hallway and disarmed him.

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Police were still trying to learn whether the student intentionally fired the gun or if the weapon went off accidentally while the parents intervened.

Ross said he’s “extremely grateful for the parents for their involvement and the fact that this ended without any loss of life”.

Police did not immediately release the student’s identity. Ross would only say that the student was a 15-year-old white boy.

Ross had very few details about the incident, including any about a possible motive.

Police had not been contacted before about the boy, Ross said.

As the parents intervened, a teacher called 911 and a police officer who happened to be down the street arrived and took custody of the student soon after, police said.

Davis school district spokesman Chris Williams praised the parents, saying, “It’s all of our jobs to keep kids safe.”

Williams had no immediate information about the student or whether he had any history of trouble or incidents at the school.

Ross said the student was in custody Thursday morning but did not say if the student had been arrested.

Ross said the student’s parents remained “with their son through the process”.

The school, about 11 miles north of Salt Lake City, remained on lockdown as more than 100 officers went room by room through the building to ensure it was safe.

Ross said no other students appear to have been involved.

The incident comes about two weeks after another Utah student stabbed five random high school classmates and himself before he was cornered by school workers, according to police.

The victims and the 16-year-old suspect survived. The teen has been charged with five counts of attempted murder in connection with the 15 November rampage at a school in Orem, about 50 miles south of Mueller Park junior high.

Police also arrested a teenager in late October after he shot an older boy twice in the head in a fight over a girl near another Utah middle school. Charges against the 14-year-old include attempted murder and weapons violations.