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14-year-old arrested for threatening to shoot ‘at least 20’ at junior high school

Posted at 3:40 PM, Feb 13, 2019
and last updated 2019-02-13 19:20:13-05

PAYSON, Utah — Police arrested a juvenile in January after he threatened to bring his AR-15 to a junior high and shoot “at least 20.”

According to a search warrant from Payson Police Department, the Payson Junior High principal contacted the department about a threat of violence made toward the school.

The search warrant stated a female student had shown the Payson Junior High principal a threatening Snapchat message that came from a 14-year-old boy, who police confirmed also attended Payson Junior High.

The female Payson Junior High student had received a screenshot of the threatening message from a friend who attends Mt. Nebo Junior High School.

According to the search warrant, the message read “Ima get my AR-15 roll up around 12 and y’all gonna be f—ing dead, goal is to get at least 20.”

The boy had originally sent the message to the student at Mt. Nebo Junior High School, who took a screenshot of the threat and sent it to her friend at Payson Junior High School, telling the Payson Junior High student to not attend school that day, the search warrant states.

Police contacted the Mt. Nebo Junior High student who originally received the threatening message. She told police the 14-year-old boy had threatened to harm her if she told law enforcement about the threat, according to the search warrant.

The search warrant states that while police were searching for the boy who made the threats, he was located inside Payson Junior High and detained in the principal’s office.

According to the search warrant, the boy agreed to speak with police after being read his Miranda Rights. The search warrant states the boy admitted to sending the threatening message via Snapchat using his Apple iPhone 6. Police seized the iPhone.

The boy has been booked into the Slate Canyon Youth Center for making terroristic threats according to Sgt. Noemi Sandoval with Payson Police.

Salt Lake City Police investigated a series of threats made against numerous daycare and preschool locations in January as well, where a man claimed to be in the parking lot and threatening violence against the different schools.

On January 25 of this year, the South Jordan Police Department received word that a threat referencing a school shooting occurring on February 14 was found on the bathroom stall of the boy’s restroom at South Jordan Middle School.

While the South Jordan Middle School threat was determined to be invalid, there is an increased police presence around South Jordan Middle School this week.