ST. GEORGE — Police have determined an email by someone threatening to leave a bomb in a parking lot across the street from Snow Canyon High School was a hoax
But not before it caused the high school and Snow Canyon Middle School to briefly secure themselves for about an hour Wednesday afternoon.
The same email was received at two local businesses catering to children.
“Snow Canyon Middle and Snow Canyon High were put on secure (status) for an incident across the street,” Steve Dunham, director of communications for the Washington County School District, told St. George News.
The emails were received through the city of St. George’s website and not the schools themselves.
“At approximately 1:15 pm, an email was received from the St. George City website that stated an individual planned to leave a bomb in the parking lot on N. 2400 West,” St. George Police Officer Tiffany Mitchell said in a statement. “The email did not name a specific target. This address is near Snow Canyon Middle and High School. As a precautionary measure, both schools were put on ‘secure status.’”
Secure status differs from a lockdown in that, while exterior school doors are locked and no one is allowed to enter the school buildings, all activities inside go on as normal.
Parents at the schools received a text alert about an “incident across the street” and that no people would be let in or out of the building but that everyone inside was safe.
By 2:15 p.m., the schools lifted their secure status.
Mitchell told St. George News St. George Children’s Museum and Fiesta Fun Center also received an email with the same wording.
A receptionist at the museum said that “nothing happened they were aware of.” And Mitchell wasn’t sure whether either the museum or the amusement center needed to take any action.
An online rumor that the charter Vista School in Ivins was also placed on secure status wasn’t true, according to Mercedes Ebert at the school’s main office.
The online threat and secure status were similar to one last September that directly threatened Snow Canyon High. It was described as a “swatting” incident where a crank call or message is made to police to make them come to a certain address.
The September incident was linked to an out-of-state swatting ring and an arrest was made.
Hurricane High School dealt with a swatting hoax on Monday when it was a student-free day.
The Utah Statewide Information and Analysis Center uses criminal information, data and known swatters and hoax creators to determine the validity of a threat. And Mitchell said the center determined for the local police department that the threat was a hoax.
Mitchell said no arrest has been made concerning Wednesday’s hoax.
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