Students and staff at Roy High School were evacuated early Monday morning after pieces of a detonated flash-bang device turned up in the school's parking lot, prompting a building-wide sweep before classes resumed later that morning. The Weber School District said the evacuation began around 7 a.m. as a precautionary measure while officials made sure the campus was safe.
According to fox13now.com, students and faculty were evacuated after debris from an explosive device was located in the school's parking lot, and the debris was specifically identified as pieces of a detonated flash-bang device. Weber School District officials said they issued the evacuation order around 7 a.m. as a precaution. As KSL reported, the debris was found specifically in the school's bus parking lot, and students were kept at a safe location until the building was cleared.
K-9 Units Sweep the Building
Specialized K-9 law enforcement units searched the building for any potential threats, per KSL's reporting. Lane Findlay, the Weber School District's public information officer, said officials did not believe staff or students were in danger but wanted to make sure there were no other devices at the school. In a statement reported by kutv.com, a school official said, “We do not believe there is any danger to staff or students but we want to make sure there are no other devices at the school.”
Findlay also described the object found, noting a flash-bang is a nonlethal explosive that causes a bright flash and loud sound, per KSL. The term covers a device designed to disorient rather than cause lasting harm, though its presence outside a high school was enough to trigger the morning's full precautionary response.
Conflicting Reports on When Classes Resumed
Accounts differ slightly on exactly when the all-clear came. Fox 13 reported the school was given the all-clear just before 9:45 a.m. and that classes had resumed, while the same outlet that first reported the K-9 search, kutv.com, reported the campus was cleared and students returned to classes at about 9:40 a.m. KSL's reporting said class activities resumed as normal once the building was cleared, and that some students were picked up by parents or left early after waiting outside in the cold, according to comments on KSL's Facebook page.
Nearby Junior High Also Affected
Sand Ridge Junior High, located near Roy High School in Roy, Utah, was temporarily placed in secure protocol as the situation unfolded, with exterior doors locked and entrances monitored, the same kutv.com report noted. Officials said there was no reported threat to students at the junior high during that time.
Monday's scare is not the first time Roy High School has drawn law enforcement attention over explosives. In January 2012, two Roy High School students were arrested on suspicion of conspiring to use explosives at a school assembly and kill fellow students, according to deseret.com. That plot was thwarted after a student who saw threatening text messages alerted school authorities, and police who searched the school and the students' homes found credible evidence of the plot but no explosives.
