MURRAY, Utah, May 23, 2016 (Gephardt Daily) — The threat of a school shooting on the last day of school — June 3 — has Hillcrest Junior High administration altering their end-of-year activities.
In a post on the school district’s Facebook page, officials said they sent parents of Hillcrest Junior High students a recorded call and email regarding a student threat that was brought to the attention of the school Monday morning.
Dee Wright, public information officer for Murray School District, said a Snapchat message was sent from one friend to the other detailing a plan and information of a school shooting that he had intended to carry out on the last day of school.
“The parents of the student who was on the receiving end of the message took a screen shot of the message and notified school authorities,” Wright said. “We notified Murray City Police and that individual has been taken into custody.”
Wright said they take these types of threats very seriously and the decision to alter the events was done for the protection of the students and to ease fears and anxiety that they, or their parents may feel.
Administration at Hillcrest Junior High, along with the superintendent and local law enforcement, made the decision to reorganize activities planned for June 3. Other safety measures have been added for the rest of the school year as well.
“We are not sure where this individual is in the juvenile system, or when he will be released and exactly what will happen with him next,” Wright said. “We are also not sure of his social circle, or other acquaintances to know if anyone else could be involved.”
Wright said their primary focus is the safety of the students. The school already has some built-in safety measures including automated locking doors and security cameras that are monitored throughout the day. The only door unlocked during the school day is the front door forcing students and visitors to feed through the office as they enter the school.
On Tuesday, Murray City Police were at the school as students arrived and will be monitoring the school with greater presence for the remainder of the school year. Teachers will be making extra trips throughout the halls and counselors are on hand for students to talk to about how they are feeling.
“We still want the end of the school year to be a good experience, we hope that the changes will not affect that,” Wright said. “Each year the school does an outside yearbook signing event but this year that has been changed.”
For now, all students are required to enter through the same door and students will not be allowed to bring backpacks, purses, or bags of any kind to school on the last day of school.
School personnel will be visually checking all students as they enter the school. All outside doors will be monitored by faculty and law enforcement.
Wright said parents who ultimately choose to keep their child home from school that day are entitled to do so if they feel that is best for them or their child to help ease fears.
“Parents can make that decision based on how the child is feeling and how much as a parent they are concerned about it,” Wright said. “We are not able to make that decision for them, those kinds of decisions have so many variables, parents usually know how their kids react in these types of situations.”
This incident is not related to the evacuation of Murray High School on Monday. The threat they received was part of a national hoax that was received all around the country.
Concerned parents, or anyone else who may have additional information, may call the Murray School District Office administration at 801-264-7400.
