BOUNTIFUL, Utah, Dec. 1, 2016 (Gephardt Daily) — Police said Thursday that actions taken by a quick-thinking student and teacher — as well as the suspect’s parents, who managed to disarm their son after he fired one shot into the ceiling inside Mueller Park Junior High School in Bountiful — may have prevented a tragedy from unfolding.
At a press conference Thursday afternoon, Bountiful City Police Chief Tom Ross said the school, at 955 E. 1800 South, went into immediate lockdown following the incident at approximately 8:15 a.m.
The suspect, a 15-year-old Caucasian, thought to be in the ninth grade, entered a classroom with 26 students and a teacher inside. Without saying anything, the teen “racked a round” (into the shotgun) and fired into the ceiling, Ross said.
The suspect then pointed the shotgun at his own neck, Ross said. The teacher and a student immediately engaged the suspect verbally,”trying to talk him out of doing this,” Ross said. Those few extra moments gave the suspect’s parents time to reach the classroom and disarm the teen. Ross said the parents were about two classrooms away when the shot was fired, searching for their son just as classes were commencing for the day after noticing two guns were missing from their home.
The boy’s parents were able to bring him into the hallway, and first arriving officer — who had reached the school in 41 seconds, ross said — took the teenager into custody. It took a total of three minutes from receiving thirty-five 911 calls and five 911 texts before the suspect was safely taken into custody.
Nobody was injured in the incident.
Because it was dispatched as an “active shooter” situation, more than 100 officers from law enforcement agencies across Davis County were called to the school. The lockdown was lifted by 11:15 a.m. The chief said there is no reason to believe there are any other suspects.
Student Dan Fowers said he witnessed the shooting.
“The bell rang and then he came in with a shotgun…. I was in the science class when he shot it, it was all so sudden. I was working on something. I heard the gun reload; it was a shotgun; he shot it up in the ceiling and I was so just in shock and got under the desk and covered. He didn’t say anything. he just came in, shot it and then stood there and then lowered the gun in his hands.
“His mom, I’m assuming it’s his mom, just grabbed the gun and threw it and pulled him into the hall. She yelled his name and mumbled some other stuff to him.”
Ross said the parents had gone to the school after they noticed that a 12-gauge shotgun and a 9 mm handgun, both loaded, were missing from their home, as were a box of ammunition for each. They were also concerned their son had been exhibiting some “risk behaviors,” Ross said.
“They were engaged enough in this young man’s life that when he started doing things differently, it alerted them,” Ross said. He added that the guns were usually kept inside a safe at the home and authorities are investigating how the suspect gained access to the weapons.
Ross said the student wore a long coat and that allowed him to conceal the weapons during his walk to school and through the building to the classroom.
He said that officers found what was later determined to be a backpack belonging to the suspect sitting in the hallway, but that backpack did not have any further weapons inside it.
The suspect, who will not be identified because of his juvenile status, is facing numerous potential charges, and is in custody at the Farmington Bay Youth Center, Ross said.
Ross said students and teachers remained in their classrooms with the doors locked and that police went systematically through each space and declared it safe, before the lockdown was lifted.
Ross said that he was grateful to the agencies that responded, teachers and students, and also, the parents of the young man for their quick actions.
“Today, I stand before you with a very grateful heart,” he said. “I know what what we were envisioning was very different from what ended up playing out.”
Parent Pamela Beheshti, whose 13-year-old daughter attends the school, got a text from a strange phone number Thursday morning, saying, “Mom, it’s Elle, I am locked in a closet. There’s an active shooter, we’re on lockdown. If I die, I love you.”
Beheshti, through tears, told Gephardt Daily that she initially thought it was a joke because it wasn’t her daughter’s phone number.
“It was another person’s number,” she said. “So I called the school. It went to voice mail. I called that number, it went to voice mail. I called the police and said, ‘I don’t know if this is a prank, cause its a number I don’t recognize, but it sounded like my daughter and she’s telling me someone came in and started shooting, and the police are there, and they’re on lockdown. And I called the Bountiful Police Department, and they said ‘Yes. That is what is the case right now.'”
Beheshti added that she is still in disbelief that such an incident could happen here in Bountiful.
“You watch this on the news all the time,” Beheshti said. “You see it all the time. You never think it’s going to happen here. I went to school here. I went to this junior high and I thought I was safe. And this is the new normal.
“I’m a big gun reform policy (supporter), but at the same time, I was telling my friend, we went to this school,” she added. “We had fire drills, we didn’t have lockdown drills. It’s a gun problem, but it’s also like a moral decay. Kids are crying out for help. I’m not defending him at all, but obviously he was in dire need of help, and instead of getting help, he got a gun.
“And this is our life now. I don’t know what the answer is. I don’t know if I want to let her (daughter Elle) come back here, but then again, it could happen in high school. It could happen when she goes to college. I mean, this is happening too much. It’s happening all the time.”
Beheshti said her phone died while she and her boyfriend Ivin Conatser were waiting for her daughter.
“So I’m not texting her anymore, but she knows I’m right here,” Beheshti said. “I’m right here and I’m going to be here when she comes out.”
“Thank God he shot the ceiling and at the classroom, or we could be dealing with fatalities right now…. Thank God no one was killed and no one was hurt,” she said. “Today. Today, operative word, because who knows what is going to happen next week.”
Brian Hansen’s daughter, who is 15, also attends the school.
“She was in a ninth grade science class, and I guess when the gun went off, when they got him apprehended, got the students out of the class, she left her phone, and I’m sure that’s where they took the phone and used it for evidence,” he said. Hansen said his ex-wife called him to alert him to the situation.
Hansen said he thinks measures should be put in place at the school in the future.
“I think they should have metal detectors at least,” he said. “Maybe have someone on duty. I’m a gun advocate, so I think if somebody brings a gun you’ve got to have a gun to stop them. I have no problem with that.”
Natalie Christensen is the sister of student Amanda, 12, who is in seventh grade, and Katie, 15, who is in ninth grade. Christensen said both Katie and Amanda were at home when they got texts from friends at the school. Both were crying when their older sister woke up for work.
“My little sisters were in the living room, and they had told me a gunman was shooting off in their school, and they were in tears, basically, and I was like, ‘Are you guys OK,’ and they were like, ‘Yeah, it was one of the students,'” Christensen said.
“My sister Katie and I drove to the school, and we’ve been here since 9 o’clock this morning, just waiting for any news, making sure their friends are OK, teachers and whatnot.”
Christensen added that she thinks it’s important the young people who attend the school be given support in the coming days and weeks.
“I would say making sure their safety is the top priority, making sure they are actually aware of the aftershock,” she said. “You can prepare them all you want, but making sure you can help them cope with this, and after it’s all done and over, making sure they’re OK.”
School continued as normal throughout the day, Ross said, though parents had the option to take their children home if they wished.
Chris Williams, spokesman from Davis School District, said teachers and school officials did everything they could to see that things continued as normal Thursday. He said 20 grief counselors visited each classroom to help the students process the incident.
Ross said there are numerous other details that are still emerging; there does not appear to be a clear motive for the shootings at this time. Ross added the suspect did not make any statements or comments during the time he was in the classroom as far as he knew.
Ross added that the school has done several drills over the years, since The Columbine High School shooting in 1999.
