Thankfully, a report that a student brought a gun to school was found to be false. According to Uintah School District Superintendent Mark Dockins, police investigated the claim that a Vernal Middle School student brought a gun to school on Wednesday and were able to prove the claim false. “As soon as we learned about it
Wednesday night
, we called the principal and she contacted Vernal police,” says Dockins. After interviews held Wednesday and Thursday with the students involved, police determined that the student who was accused of bringing the gun to school had never threatened to do so. Students did tell investigators that the accused student had made “concerning statements in November about a prior incident of school violence in another state” and he acknowledged that he had made the statements. A security check was performed at the boy’s home and it was determined that he does not have access to any firearms, explains Dockins. The student was, however, asked to stay home from school on Thursday for the past comments and will go through a Safe Schools hearing. Dockins says anyone with information about a potential threat to a school should always contact the school or the police. “If you hear something or see something that might jeopardize the safety of our kids, please let us know right away. We need everyone to do their part to help us keep our schools safe.”
