ROY, Utah, Aug. 4, 2019 (Gephardt Daily) — Officials were quick to dispel rumors that there was an active shooter in Roy West Park Saturday evening.
A Facebook post from Roy City Police Department said: “This post is for the purpose of dispelling any rumors and to separate fact from fiction regarding the events at Roy West Park on the evening of Aug. 3. It should be noted that these rumors appear at the onset to have been started on local social media pages. We ask those who are posting or forwarding information on these pages to do so diligently.”
The post said that when misused, social media has the ability to create unnecessary alarm as well as bad information that first responders have to sort through.
“For those of you who are listening to any scanners or scanner apps remember that several jurisdictions use the same dispatch center,” the post said. “This means that one dispatcher can be working more than one incident in more than one location simultaneously. Also, what you thought heard may not have actually been said, or misheard, or taken out of context. Our communication with dispatch is full of code and other jargon.”
The post said that it is not correct that there was an active shooter at Roy West Park.
“There were several groups of teenagers whom we believe to be of two different gang affiliations that were at the park to fight each other,” the post said. “Officers spent several hours separating these groups and removing them from the park. Once we were successful at securing the park the dispatch center did receive a third party phone call indicating that a threat had been made and that someone may possibly driveby and ‘shoot up the park.'”
Officials said that it is also untrue that there was a stabbing at the same park.
“A few arrests were made of juveniles that were causing the most significant problems,” the post said. “One of those juveniles was in possession of a knife, but to our knowledge there was no stabbing reported to have occurred.”
The post concluded: “We love our social media community. Please keep your posts full of facts not hearsay. We will all be better off as a result. Please post wisely.”
