FARMINGTON, Utah, Dec. 15, 2016 (Gephardt Daily) — Two weeks after police say a 15-year-old boy armed with a 12-gauge shotgun and a 9 mm handgun walked into Bountiful’s Mueller Park Jr. High and fired a shot into a classroom ceiling — the Bountiful Police Department has released body cam footage of the incident.
The footage was made public on Thursday, Dec. 15, on the same day the teen was formally charged in 2nd District Juvenile Court with two counts of second degree felony theft, one count of third degree discharge of a firearm, and two counts of class A misdemeanor possession of a firearm in school.
Gephardt Daily does not release the name of the juvenile suspects unless the courts determine he will be tried as an adult. At Thursday’s hearing, Deputy Davis County Attorney Ryan Perkins told Judge Mark Andrus that prosecutors will be requesting the teen stand trial in adult court.
The body cam video, 11:42 long, has been redacted to hide the identity of the teen and the man and woman, presumably his parents, who are holding him in the school hallway. According to police reports, the boy shot a bullet at the ceiling in a class with 26 students, then held the gun to his own neck.
His parents, who were nearby in the school, heard the shot and entered the classroom to tackle their son and pull him out into the hallway.
The recording begins with an officer getting the radio call with news of the shooting at Mueller Park Jr. High. He drives to the nearby school, races up the steps, and enters the hallway, where he sees a boy, facing the wall with a man holding him in place. A woman, behind them, is holding a bag, which she places on the floor, resting a shotgun and a handgun nearby.
The officer wearing the body camera pats down the suspect, searching for additional weapons, and takes him into custody.
For his Thursday court date, the teenager appeared via a video camera from the Farmington Bay Youth Center, where he is being held.
The teen’s defense attorney, Lindsay Jarvis, asked for a psychological evaluation. The boy’s next scheduled court date is Dec. 22.
