BRIGHAM CITY — After still another high school scare, this one featuring an ominous video and suspect cookies, some people in the Box Elder District are wary.

“I do think everybody’s on edge in general,” Superintendent Steve Carlsen said Wednesday, asked about the worrisome Valentine’s Day incident at Box Elder High School. An investigation showed that a student produced a YouTube video that included random photos of students, “creepy” narration and music, and flames enveloping the school.

Small bags with cards and cookies inside also raised suspicion, especially after two students reported experiencing headaches after eating the treats.

In December, Bear River High School and several other schools were switched to online learning for a day while school officials and Tremonton-Garland police investigated three threats of violence. Two of the incidents were deemed copycat actions, and two students were referred to juvenile court for prosecution.

Carlsen said another incident, this one at Box Elder High, briefly caused a scare about someone racking a gun in a restroom.

“A kid in a bathroom stall, he was just changing his clothes to go to work and his belt clanged,” Carlsen said. “The kid in the other stall thought he heard a bullet being chambered.”

The second student told the school police officer and an emergency investigation was launched. There was no gun being readied to fire and the student was only getting ready for his after-school job. But word got out on social media, and concern spread.

“It just seems like one of these things leads to another,” Carlsen said. “And once again this was a social media issue.”

The Valentine’s Day video included imagery from the “Five Nights at Freddy’s” horror-themed video game. Carlsen said the YouTube video, the treat bags and other elements designed by the student were part of an intended scavenger hunt.

“He actually thought it would help him to become a YouTuber,” Carlsen said.

The student’s mother made the cookies and they weren’t spiked with anything, he said.

“We determined there was no real intent to harm,” the superintendent said. “However, he did send the video and it was creepy, with the fake flames, and it was concerning. It did really upset people.”

Carlsen said school officials and the student’s parents made a joint decision that the student will finish the school year in online classes.

The Brigham City Police Department and the Box Elder County Attorney’s Office looked into the incident as well. “There was nothing they felt like was chargeable,” Carlsen said. “Anytime there is any kind of threat — guns, bombs, anything — they look at it.”

Efforts to contact police were not immediately successful.

Carlsen said officials communicate to parents when most incidents occur, but “It’s a fine line. You try to send emails to parents so they get the information, but try not to give as much that it sends them into a frenzy.”

But regardless, he said, “Two or three really weird things have really put people on edge.”

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