COTTONWOOD HEIGHTS, Utah — Cottonwood Heights police conducted a sweep at Brighton High School Monday morning after school administrators were made aware of threats against the school via twitter on Friday night.
Brighton High School principal Charisse Hilton sent an email message (below) to inform students and their parents of the threats on Sunday night.
“It’s annoying, but I’m glad that the school is concerned. It would be worse if the school weren’t concerned,” said Tracy Tolley, the mother of a Brighton High School student. “My daughter thinks it’s probably just somebody being malicious through social media, just a joke, basically, but I’m glad they’re taking it seriously because that’s where these things start.”
Granite School District spokesman Jeff Haney said officials were already prepared to handle threats at the school.
“We train on these protocols all the time. So, we hope that we never have to face this, but we have trained for it and we are here today with the police. They are adding that extra sense of security and hopefully a sense of calm,” Haney said.
Read the letter from Brighton High principal Charisse Hilton:
Parents of students at Brighton High,
This weekend, we were made aware of threats being made over social media against Brighton High. We immediately started an investigation and, per our security protocols, worked cooperatively with Cottonwood Heights Police to aid in the probe. We also asked the police for additional security at the school when classes resume on Monday.
Please rest assured that we have not found any weapons, facsimiles of weapons or other artifacts at the school, which has been closely guarded throughout the weekend. However, we take matters of school safety very seriously. We are committed to keeping our students and teachers safe, and we continue to work with police on the ongoing investigation. Because it is an ongoing investigation, we cannot release any additional information at this time.
We also ask for your assistance. If you have any information, want to express a concern or ask questions, please call the school directly at 801-826-5800 at 7:15 a.m. Monday and a representative will be ready to speak with you. If you have information that would aid in the police investigation, please call Cottonwood Heights Police at 801-840-4000.
In addition, Brighton High and Canyons District administrators and Cottonwood Heights police officers will be in the hallways and around the school in the coming days. The campus will be well protected.
Again, the safety of our students and employees is paramount. We take seriously every threat of violence and will work tirelessly to provide a safe environment for our school community.
Charisse Hilton
Principal
Brighton High School
