WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah — Three students were shot with a pellet gun during an incident Tuesday at Granger High School in West Valley City, district officials said.
According to the Granite School District, police noticed a car inside the school parking lot "moving suspiciously" during lunch time. Two juvenile suspects were then seen getting out of the car and firing an Orbeez pellet gun at a group, hitting three students.
District police said the students were targeted by the suspects and suffered minor injuries, including light welts. Officials originally described the gun as an airsoft gun.
After attempting to flee, the suspects were stopped by district police and taken into custody. It's expected that the suspects will face criminal charges, possibly assault and trespassing.
One parent of Granger students said his first reaction upon hearing the news was to pick up his kids.
"When I went there to pick them up, they didn't know what was going on 'til I got there," said William Schulz. "I pulled them out of class and I brought them home because I didn't feel like they were safe there."
Because the incident was witnessed by police, the school was not placed under any lockdown protocols and classes proceeded as normal. Hours later, Schulz disagreed with the decision.
"It doesn't matter if it's a small gun, big gun, fake gun, water gun," he said. "If somebody is out there hurting other students, they should've locked it down to make it safe."
A district spokesperson explained why the decision to avoid a lockdown was made.
"It's obviously alarming anytime anybody brings any sort of weapon onto campus, even if its a facsimile or a toy, we take that very seriously, and in this particular case the officers senses were correct to follow that vehicle and follow through with what occurred," said district spokesperson Ben Horsley.
Schulz hopes the incident will encourage parents to talk to their children and the district about school safety.
"We need to step up we need to start going to the meetings and telling them we don't feel safe with this," he said.
The motive behind the incident is not yet known.
