ST. GEORGE — A suspect accused of threatening a school resource officer through texts and messages for a situation that took place years ago was arrested by police on Tuesday.
The investigation into the incident began Monday after officers received a report of a possible threat to one of the dozen school resource officers working in Washington County. The officer that was threatened worked mostly at Tonaquint Intermediate School.
The St. George Police Department issued a statement on social media Tuesday outlining the incident and the coordinated effort that led to the suspect’s arrest.
According to the probable cause statement filed in support of the arrest, officers tasked with investigating the report learned that a suspect, later identified as 46-year-old Jason Ryan Little, had reportedly sent several text messages stating “he would end the life” of one of the school resource officers who also is among the ranks of the St. George Police Department.
The threats reportedly started when the suspect sent a picture of the officer that also depicted the school the officer worked at and said that the officer “ruined his life and he could not wait to watch the officer take his last breath,” according to the report.
Police say the suspect also said his family could read about the incident in St. George News and then sent a link to the news outlet’s website.
Little also included a photo of a handgun in the text thread and said he was suicidal and not afraid to die and “everyone will read about it in the news,” the report states, adding that he also sent two social media messages directly to the targeted officer but then deleted them before the officer could read the messages.
Investigators also learned from several witnesses that Little could act on the threats and may go to the school where the officer is employed and “cause pain to as many people as he can,” the officer wrote, adding that the evidence and statements gathered provided enough probable cause to arrest the suspect for making threats to the officer, police say.
Moreover, while the suspect did not make specific threats to the school, the threats he reportedly made may have caused alarm there.
St. George Police Officer Tiffany Mitchell told St. George News that Little never made any threats directed at the school, only at the officer. She also said there was no evidence that Little made any plans to go to the school, adding the suspect’s threats were based on an interaction that took place many years ago, well before the officer was placed at the school.
In an effort to err on the side of caution, however, she said the Police Department advised the district of the situation so that they would be aware, adding that law enforcement works with their partners at the district to ensure the safety of the students, faculty and the officers, which is their first priority. She also said that law enforcement takes any type of threat toward an officer very seriously.
On Tuesday, Little was arrested and booked into jail on misdemeanor assault on a peace officer and he is being held without bail.
This report is based on statements from court records, police or other responders and may not contain the full scope of findings. Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.
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