SAINT GEORGE – Investigators are releasing more details about the potentially explosive device that forced an evacuation at Pine View High School in Saint George. They believe the student had the worst of intentions.
The explosive device failed to detonate, but, if it had, investigators say it would have caused widespread damage. Saint George Police Spokesperson Lona Trombley says, “Through the investigation of the device, itself, we determined that it was put there with the intent to cause serious injury or death and damage to the property.”
The teen, whose name and age have not been revealed, left the device in a backpack, but, alert students saw the pack was smoking and called the school resource officer. Trombley says, “The backpack was left in an area near a large group of students.”
When police searched the teen’s home, Trombley says they found some of the components that were used to make the bomb.
The St. George Police Department will recommend charges of possessing weapons of mass destruction, but, Washington County Attorney Brock Belnap says they’re in the process of determining if more charges will be added. “That would include the possibility of charging him in district court, or asking the juvenile court to certify him as an adult,” Belnap says.
Investigators in Hurricane say this is the same teen who posted pro-ISIS graffiti.
(Photo Credit: Stace Hall, KSL TV)