Threat made against Vernal Middle School is unsubstantiated, police say

VERNAL, Utah (ABC4) — A threat made toward Vernal Middle School early Tuesday morning was deemed “unsubstantiated” by police.

The Uintah School District said they were made aware of the threat before school started. Superintendent Rick Woodford spoke with police and learned the threat had already been investigated back to its source and was unsubstantiated.

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The Vernal Police Department said the possible threat was specific to Vernal Middle School — no other schools were mentioned.

The school district drafted a message to send to all Vernal Middle School parents and guardians just after 6:45 a.m., but said it failed to send, for reasons unknown.

The district did, however, post the information to its Facebook and Instagram pages just after 7 a.m.

According to the school district, rumors circulating on social media that there were also threats made against Uintah Middle School and Uintah High School were false — the only school mentioned in the threat investigated by Vernal police was Vernal Middle School.

“There are no active threats to any Uintah School District schools,” the school district said.

However, as a precaution, law enforcement had an additional presence Tuesday at Vernal Middle School, Uintah Middle School, and Uintah High School.

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