CEDAR CITY (ABC4) — The Iron County School District released a statement on an alleged gun incident that reportedly happened on Monday at the Canyon View High School parking lot.

On Monday, Feb 27, around 12:20 p.m., a juvenile reportedly pulled a gun and pointed it at four Canyon View High School students in the parking lot. An hour later at approximately 1:30 p.m., the suspect reportedly returned to the parking lot and physically assaulted another student.

According to a press release from the Iron County School District, the report of a possible gun presence and the alleged fight in the parking lot were not brought to school administrators’ attention until school ended Monday. And when it was brought to their attention, ICSD said law enforcement had advised Canyon View HS that the suspect was no longer on school grounds, and the presence of a gun was not verified.

Early Tuesday morning, ICSD said that law enforcement informed them, and Canyon View HS, that the suspect involved in both incidents was under surveillance. They also reportedly advised Canyon View HS to have more police at the school, in response to the situation.

However, law enforcement did not inform ICSD of a dispatch call Cedar City Police allegedly received before school Tuesday, at 12:14 a.m., in which someone warned them that the suspect in the parking lot incident also allegedly threatened to shoot up the school.

According to the press release, the district administration wasn’t informed of this dispatch call until Wednesday evening at about 9 p.m. when they were informed there may have been a dispatch call Tuesday relating to the incident. It wasn’t until late Thursday, around 5:20 p.m., that Cedar City Police confirmed to ICSD they had received a dispatch call Tuesday at 12:14 a.m. warning about a possible threat made by the suspect to shoot up the school.

“Iron County School District administrators and Board of Education members have been
meeting and will continue to meet with law enforcement to review and adjust current practices
and procedures to ensure student safety at our schools,” Superintendent Dr. Lance Hatch said.

The suspect had reportedly been in custody for two days when school and district administrators
learned of the dispatch call.