Orem teen in custody after posting school shooting threat on social media

File photo: Gephardt Daily

OREM, Utah, AUG. 20, 2018 (Gephardt Daily) — A 17-year-old Orem girl is in custody after posting a school shooting threat on social media.

The Orem Police Department released a statement saying they learned about the threat made by a Mountain View High School student about 9 p.m. Sunday and notified the public in a social media post of their own.

“We wanted to let everyone know about a threat we had last night …from a student at Mountain View High School,” the post read.

“The threat came by way of an Instagram post. In the video, you see a handgun, with someone putting the magazine in it and pulling the trigger as the gun is pointed at the camera.”

The photo is captioned, ‘You ready for your first and last day of school?’

Photo Instagram screensaver Orem Police Dept

According to Orem PD, the 17-year-old female suspect was taken into custody within two hours of police being notified of the threat. Officers confiscated the weapon and booked the teen into jail for making a threat of terrorism, obstruction of justice, disorderly conduct and possession of a dangerous weapon by a minor.

“We take these types of cases very, very seriously and we will do everything in our power to protect our kids,” the Orem Police Department post read. “Parents, please talk to your kids about this. Making any type of threats like this can land you in ‘Juvy’ with some very serious consequences. This is not a joke so please talk to them even if you don’t think you need to.

“We applaud the courage of those kids who saw her post and talked to their parents, who in turn talked to us,” the Orem PD posting said.

The teen is being held at the Slate Canyon Youth Center in Provo.

Police say they sent extra officers to Mountain View High Monday as an added security precaution.

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