SALT LAKE CITY — East High School was evacuated "out of an abundance of caution" Friday after an employee received information about a possible bomb threat.
Police have since cleared the school of any threat after an "extensive search."
School officials said because of the evacuation, students were released early for the day. Parents could pick up their students at the Baptist Church located on the corner of 800 South 1300 East.
School buses also arrived early to pick up students from school, taking them home at 1:30 p.m.
Salt Lake City Police said the school district chose to evacuate while resource officers help search the school.
"We do have a lot of officers on scene," explained Brent Weisburg with SLCPD. "Anytime we have a situation with a school we want to make sure that we have an appropriate number of resources here so that we can make sure that the students are safe in the evacuation process, that if there is any problem that we have enough officers to devote to that."
The district said in a note to parents that the threat was called into the school at 12:10 p.m.
Further details about the nature of the threat were not made available, but in an email to parents from school officials, it said the threat was "highly likely" to be a hoax.
"The school notified the police department right away," Weisburg said. "That immediately activated the protocols we have to start assessing the situation."
Officials said all students are safe and emphasized that the evacuation was "out of an abundance of caution."
Police K-9s were sent to the school to thoroughly search the premises.
"There have been no injuries," Weisburg explained. "No suspicious items or packages that we have seen based on our preliminary search."
"We are grateful for the cooperation of our students and families today," a note from school officials to parents read in part. "We appreciate the quick response by Salt Lake City police as we worked together to keep our school safe."
Police also added that rumors spread about gunshots being heard at East High but they said they have found no evidence to support that.
After an extensive search, we have determine there is no threat and the campus is safe. Operations of the school will now be turned over to @slcschools. Media needing an interview should meet at the media staging location. #SLC #SLCPD #SaltLakeCity pic.twitter.com/QeJw60yrun
— Salt Lake City Police (@slcpd) December 9, 2022
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