Lone Peak Police Say Miscommunication Led To Lockdown At Wrong School

HIGHLAND, Utah — Lone Peak Police said miscommunication is what led a swarm of officers to the wrong high school Friday afternoon after reports came in of a person with a possible gun.

Salt Lake City dispatch got the initial 911 call around noon on Friday about a man with a gun at Highland High School.

“I just got a call from my younger sister that attends Highland High School and she saw someone walk into the school with a trench coat and a gun,” the 911 caller told dispatch.

According to Salt Lake City Police, their resource officer quickly discovered through surveillance video the “stranger” was the man who refills the vending machines, so no lockdown or call out for officers was needed.

Meanwhile, an army of officers converged on Lone Peak High school, going room to room with rifles drawn, patting down students.

According to a statement from Sergeant J. Brooks with Lone Peak Police, they got their own call to their police department and it was miscommunicated to Utah County dispatch that it was Lone Peak High School in Highland.

“We have since discovered that when the call came into our police department it was transferred by police staff to our dispatch center (Central Utah 911) with the understanding it was occurring in Highland at Lone Peak High School…unfortunately, when information about the initial call was shared amongst personnel at the police department, the specific information about the location of the incident had not been clarified,” Brooks said. “Transferring a call on an incident such as this to an emergency communications center is common so that the dispatch center can get public safety personnel responding quicker.”

Brooks did not answer questions about who exactly called the police department about the alleged gunman and who from his office took that call.

“Although determined in the end to not be needed, we feel the response to Lone Peak High School was appropriate based upon the information we had. In future incidents such as these, we will work to the best of our ability to prevent this type of miscommunication from occurring again. However we will always err on the side of caution when it comes to protecting the children and residents within our communities,” Brooks said in his statement.