Utah Police Stop Potential Campus Shooting with 3D-Printed Gun

Utah Police Stop Potential Campus Shooting with 3D-Printed Gun

A man faces a criminal charge after police say he threatened to commit a mass shooting at a school using a 3D-printed gun.

A South Jordan, Utah man faces a criminal charge after police say he threatened to commit a mass shooting at a small South Salt Lake school using a gun made from a 3D printer.

Austin James David West, 23, was charged Aug. 9 in South Salt Lake Justice Court with making a threat of violence, a class B misdemeanor. On Aug. 8, West was arrested at his home after he talked with another student "about using a gun to shoot students at Broadview University," according to a Salt Lake County Jail report.

"The statements were forwarded to the university which caused the university dean to be fearful that a school shooting was actually going to take place. An email had to be sent to faculty and students warning them of the threat of a shooting at the school. The school chose to remain open," according to the report.

Broadview Entertainment Arts University is located at 240 E. and 2430 South.

West sent several texts to another student he has known for several years, stating that he would commit a shooting that “people would be talking about.”

"The text messages sent by the suspect reference killing people with a 3D printed gun so the gun could not be traced back to him.

The messages were allegedly sent on Aug. 7 between 7 and 11 p.m. The other student forwarded the messages to a school professor at 11:20 p.m.

The other student believed Austin could be capable of committing a mass casualty type event such as a school shooting, and told police that West had been "verbally aggressive" in the past. He also was fearful of his demeanor.

Police served a warrant at West's South Jordan home Aug. 8 where he lives with his parents and seized a 3D printer. His next court appearance is scheduled for Sept. 26.

On Monday, a Seattle federal judge approved a motion to block a Texas man from releasing blueprints that could be downloaded online for 3D-printed guns.

Featured

  • The Future is Happening Outside the Cloud

    For years, the cloud has captivated the physical security industry. And for good reason. Remote access, elastic scalability and simplified maintenance reshaped how we think about deploying and managing systems. But as the number of cameras grows and resolutions push from HD to 4K and beyond, the cloud’s limits are becoming unavoidable. Bandwidth bottlenecks. Latency lags. Rising storage costs. These are not abstract concerns. Read Now

  • The Impact of Convergence Between IT and Physical Security

    For years, the worlds of physical security and information technology (IT) remained separate. While they shared common goals and interests, they often worked in silos. Read Now

  • Unlocking Trustworthy AI: Building Transparency in Security Governance

    In situations where AI supports important security tasks like leading investigations and detecting threats and anomalies, transparency is essential. When an incident occurs, investigators must trace the logic behind each automated response to confirm its validity or spot errors. Demanding interpretable AI turns opaque “black boxes” into accountable partners that enhance, rather than compromise, organizational defense. Read Now

  • Seeking Innovative Solutions

    Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance. You may recognize these terms as the “5 Phases” of a grieving process, but they could easily describe the phases one goes through before adopting any new or emerging innovation or technology, especially in a highly risk-averse industry like security. However, the desire for convenience in all aspects of modern life is finally beginning to turn the tide from old school hardware as the go-to towards more user-friendly, yet still secure, door solutions. Read Now

  • Where AI Meets Human Judgment

    Artificial intelligence is everywhere these days. It is driving business growth, shaping consumer experiences, and showing up in places most of us never imagined just a few years ago. Read Now

New Products

  • Camden CV-7600 High Security Card Readers

    Camden CV-7600 High Security Card Readers

    Camden Door Controls has relaunched its CV-7600 card readers in response to growing market demand for a more secure alternative to standard proximity credentials that can be easily cloned. CV-7600 readers support MIFARE DESFire EV1 & EV2 encryption technology credentials, making them virtually clone-proof and highly secure.

  • 4K Video Decoder

    3xLOGIC’s VH-DECODER-4K is perfect for use in organizations of all sizes in diverse vertical sectors such as retail, leisure and hospitality, education and commercial premises.

  • Unified VMS

    AxxonSoft introduces version 2.0 of the Axxon One VMS. The new release features integrations with various physical security systems, making Axxon One a unified VMS. Other enhancements include new AI video analytics and intelligent search functions, hardened cybersecurity, usability and performance improvements, and expanded cloud capabilities