VERNAL, Utah, Sept. 22, 2022 (Gephardt Daily) — A gun has been taken from a Vernal Middle School student, who was then placed in custody, the Uintah School District says.
Officials were alerted to the gun before the Thursday school day began, the District statement says.
“An incident occurred at Vernal Middle School this morning before the start of the school day where it was reported that a student was in possession of a gun.”
The school followed established safety protocols for weapons on school property to ensure safety, the Uintah School District news release says.
“The student was immediately apprehended by the school resource officer assigned to VMS and the gun was recovered. It was determined that the student was the lone threat and the situation is stable. The student was taken into police custody.”
No more threat
There is no remaining threat to students or employees, the statement says, adding that no more information will be released while the investigating is active.
The school attempted to reach parents of Vernal Middle School students with a SchoolMessenger notification, the statement says.
A subsequent District message says the system malfunctioned, and the district is looking into the error that kept the notice from going out.
Earlier scare
Another armed student was reported at VMS earlier this month, on Sept. 6. The “weapon” in that case was determined to be an Airsoft gun.
In that case, the district issued a statement saying “students are not allowed to bring replica or toy firearms, including Airsoft guns, to school. Doing so will result in serious consequences.”
