2 Highland students detained after guns found in bags; alert lifted

SALT LAKE CITY — Police say two students at Highland High School were detained after two guns were recovered on campus Monday.

Officials with the Salt Lake City Police Department said administrators contacted the school resource officers after they found a handgun in the backpack of a student they stopped as part of a separate criminal and administrative investigation.

During their investigation, officers contacted a second student and located a second gun in that person’s bag.

Update at 11:42 a.m. – The Secure Alert has been lifted. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

— SLC School District (@slcschools) September 26, 2022

Police said both students are brothers and brought the firearms to school as a status symbol, and no threats were ever made.

The school was placed under a “secure alert” while officers searched the school and nearby neighborhood. That alert was lifted before noon Monday.

“The school was amazing,” said Ashleigh Rose, a parent of a student who goes to the school.

She hopes that this kind of problem could be solved by other parents being involved in their kids’ school life.

“Maybe parents are part of the situation. Maybe kids are part of the solution. The district, the police, all of us working together. I’m not sure,” Rose expressed.

Both students will be booked into a Salt Lake County Juvenile Detention Center. “Because this case involves minors, the name, ages and grades of the students involved are not being released,” police said in a release.