Parents, students terrified after false alarm at Granger Elementary School

WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah — There were some terrifying moments for parents and students at Granger Elementary School Monday after word spread of a possible active shooter. That was before they found out it was a false alarm and the popping or gunshot sounding noises were coming from a science experiment in a classroom.

Parents outside the school were left searching for answers, with police everywhere, while many students were huddled inside their dark classrooms.

“Immediate panic,” said Sylvia Johnson, who rushed to the school to pick up her grandson. “With everything going on in the world, you know. I needed to get to school to protect my baby.”

“I was just freaking out so bad. I was crying,” one mother said to KSL TV. “I looked out my window and seen all the cops and knew something bad was going on.”

Breaking: outside Granger Elementary school .. huge police presence.. still trying to get latest on what’s happening kids evacuated and now being let back in. pic.twitter.com/nqLlfN2A0T

— Dan Rascon (@TVDanRascon) November 28, 2022

Other parents were getting ring alerts.

“It kept saying active shooter at the school, and so I freaked out,” said Sarah Zarate, who raced to the school to pick up her nieces. “I started crying. I was very scared.”

Students told KSL TV when they heard the popping noise at about 11:30 a.m., they thought for sure it was gunfire inside the school. That’s when teachers jumped into action to protect the kids.

“I hear, like, loud booms. [Our teacher] says to everyone, ‘Did you hear that?’ She started closing the door and she turned off the lights and she told everyone it’s lockdown time and we hid in the corners. We were just really scared trying to calm down each other. I was shivering so much, and my other classmates, they were also shivering,” said Louis Aguilar, a fifth grader at the school.

“The teacher, like, locked the door, and we all huddled up in the corner, hoping that the school shooter wouldn’t get us,” said student Ahmed Adam.

Hawa Adam said her teacher read them a book to try and calm their nerves.

“People were crying in my class,” she said. “She read us a storybook. She did so good. She was trying to protect us.”

After the noon hour, the false alarm was sent out and students who were evacuated from the school got to go back inside to their classrooms. Parents picking up their kids, all holding them a little tighter.

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

“It’s relief. I’m glad everything is good,” said Guadalupe Meraz, a parent of two kids.

Many also expressing thanks to the quick action of police, even though it was just a science project.

“They handled it really good. I’m glad there was this many cops,” said Shakierra Zarate, who was picking up her nieces.

“Better safe than sorry,” Johnson said.