Suspicious package reported inside Willard Elementary School, police responding

This is a developing story. ABC4 will update this post with more information as it becomes available.

WILLARD, Utah (ABC4) — A suspicious package was reported at Willard Elementary School, and Willard PD are investigating.

Box Elder School District posted on social media

that Willard Elementary received an expected package, but when they opened it, there was also a suspicious material inside. They contacted police, and students were contained in classrooms for safety. Parents were notified by text and email.

According to a social media post from Willard City Police Department, they responded to an active incident inside the school. In an updated press release, Willard PD stated that the package had a powdery substance inside, and a hazmat team responded per hazmat protocol.

According to Box Elder School District Public Information Officer Jamie Kent, all students have been medically cleared and are okay to leave. The package was bookmarks the school ordered for the book fair.

Willard Elementary School only has kindergarten and first grade students. Kent said that the first graders were part of a reading group in the library, and they could have been exposed to the suspicious material, which is why they were kept in their classrooms at first.

Response to incident at Willard Elementary School (KTVX//Kade Garner)

Willard PD stated that there were no reported injuries and no one was transported to the hospital. The powder was identified as a dietary supplement that was smashed in a package when it was delivered.

The police requested that all parents and guardians picking up students pick them up on the north side of the school, near the City Bowery at 50 West 50 North. Hazmat determined that busses would run as usual. At 4:25 p.m., Box Elder School District told ABC4 that students were in the process of being dismissed.

Police also requested parents and community members not to go to the school and to avoid the area of the school building. Units are still on scene for the decontamination cleanup, but there is no threat to the public.

This incident comes a day after a Ben Lomond High School student was shot and killed near Ben Lomond High in Ogden. Less than a week before that, a bomb threat was reported at Ben Lomond High, and a suspect was taken into custody on Tuesday. Ogden Police said that the two incidents were not related.