Police confirm no shooting occurred at Granger Elementary after school put on lockdown

WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah — Granger Elementary School was put on lockdown Monday after police received reports of shots being fired from a 911 call.

“The report came from several loud noises that the teacher who made the report indicated were gun shots,” Granite School District spokesperson Ben Horsley said.

Shortly after emergency protocols were initiated, the West Valley City Police Department confirmed that there was no shooting at the school.

URGENT: officers have confirm that NO SHOOTING has taken place at Granger Elementary. @GraniteSchools will provide information about the rest of the school day as well as picking up children. Please refer to them for further instruction and media inqueries.

— WVC Police (@WVCPD) November 28, 2022

“This was a non-credible threat and everyone is safe and accounted for. We are grateful for the immediate response of the police,” read a statement from the district. “The district communicated as quickly as possible with parents but was unable to verify and share certain information while police investigated. Again, everyone is SAFE as this was a non-credible threat. School is proceeding, but we recognize parents and students may be sensitive to the nature of the incident. Parents can pick up their children from the school if they feel that is appropriate.”

Horsley said those loud noises were from a science experiment in another classroom. The teacher reported the noise around 11:30 a.m.

“It turns out that this was a science experiment going on in the next classroom space with some volcanoes being developed and creating loud noises,” he said.

Nearly every police agency in the valley showed up at the school.

“We had a very exhaustive search, multiple times, of the facility to ensure that our students and staff were safe,” Horsley said.

All students and staff were placed on lockdown. Some students were taken to the Redwood swap meet.

He said the district is going to review its communication policies with staff. He said it’s protocol for a teacher to give a heads up about any loud school activity in their classroom.

“When there’s loud noises to be had and unfortunately, there appears to be a lack of communication or misunderstanding,” he said. “Either way, we’re very glad for the outcome.”

Granger elementary students walking back inside school @KSL5TV pic.twitter.com/YdcbpoexKD

— Shelby Lofton (@newswithShelby) November 28, 2022

Horsley said no one will be punished for this, and he believes the teacher acted in the best interest of their students. He added the teacher should have also notified the front office about any noises they heard.

“I think this is an opportunity to learn and grow, but at the same time, I would much rather have someone report and call 911 when they see something suspicious or unsafe,” Horsley said.

Horsley said the district wanted to tell families what was happening more quickly.

“We tried to let parents know as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, we were getting various reports, and because of the miscommunication and the vast response, while we did not feel the report was credible, police were in the midst of searching the building,” Horsley said.

“We did have some students off campus that remained off campus and were directed to the swap meet area,” he added. “They were with a group of high school students for a tutoring program.”

Families were welcome to pick up their children early from school. Class continued as normal for those who stayed.

Horsley said crisis communicators are available to students and staff.