SALT LAKE CITY – A Utah teenager accused of triggering a massive police response and a 2-hour lockdown with a made-up story about an armed man at his school is facing a misdemeanor false-alarm charge.
Tim Taylor with the Utah County Attorney's Office said Friday that prosecutors have filed the case in juvenile court.
Police sent SWAT teams to conduct a room-by-room search of the Pleasant Grove school in the Dec. 3 incident that illustrated a climate of fear amid repeated mass shootings.
No weapon was found, and investigators say he probably lied about seeing the man with a gun in a trench coat to get out of a class activity.
Authorities say they arrested him to show that it's not OK to tie up police resources and instill fear.
The teen's name has not been released.
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