CEDAR CITY, Utah — Gavin Messerly is a father of six, like many other parents in Cedar City he feels he was left in the dark about the incident at Canyon View High School on Monday.
"They could've reached out to the parents and let us know what happened, I know there are probably reasons why they didn't, but I know that I would've liked to know," Messerly said.
The Cedar City Police Department said the juvenile male suspect arrived at the parking lot of Canyon View High School around 12:20 p.m. Monday. They said the boy pulled out a gun, pointed it at four students, then left the area. Nobody was injured in this incident.
Then around 1:30 p.m. that same day, police say the boy went back and "physically assaulted" a student (who was not one of the previous four). Details were not given about the nature of the assault nor how serious the victim's injuries were.
Parents say they were not notified of anything until a lockdown notification went out for Canyon View High School and Fiddler's Elementary School, they didn't find out details about Monday's incident until they saw the Cedar City Police Department's press release.
"Why do we not know who comes on campus, why do we not know who comes into the school, why do we have no idea what happens when kids walk out those doors some of that is on parents," Messerly said.
"I can't speak for the school district on exactly what their policies are, but we don't put out step-by-step process, we want to make sure the information we receive is accurate," said Lieutenant Clint Pollock with the Cedar City Police Department.
In a statement from Iron County School District they said, "The altercations did not come to the school’s attention until the end of the school day on Monday when students reported them to the School Resource Officer. A police investigation began at that time. Through subsequent interviews, the timeline and report of a weapon came to light mid-day Tuesday. Under a precautionary measure, the school had an additional police presence on the campus on Tuesday. Once the law enforcement agencies working on the situation had the information and were able to obtain a warrant. Nearby schools were placed in a level 1 lockdown while the police took a male juvenile into custody. A level 1 lockdown means all outside doors of the school are locked and school continues inside. Every action taken by the school was in collaboration with local law enforcement. District administrators appreciate the relationship we have with our law enforcement community and the work that school resource officers do every day in keeping students safe."
Lieutenant Pollock says police received evidence around 6:30 a.m. Tuesday morning that the juvenile suspect may have a firearm in his possession. Schools did not go on lockdown at this time, but Pollock says officers began surveillance of the suspect's home before school started and there was an increased presence of law enforcement throughout the school day on Tuesday.
"Between 12:30 and 12:55 we received information that the suspect had shared some threats on social media, due to the threats, and the close proximity of the suspect's resident to our schools, they were placed on lockdown," Lieutenant Pollock said.
Messerly says this is all part of a bigger issue -- the lack of accountability and resources at public schools, but he says there is just not enough money or resources to give schools the presence needed to protect students. He urges the legislature to do more to give power back to local school districts.
"If the teachers are in their classrooms, and the resource officer is in his closet, and the principal is doing his duties in his office, who's watching, who's standing at that door making sure some psycho doesn't walk with whatever nobody, the answer is nobody's there," Messerly said.
