Utah Police Arrest Man Who Threatened to Shoot up School With 3D-Printed Gun

A man in Utah was charged earlier this month with threatening to commit a school shooting using a 3D-printed gun.

According to the Deseret News, Austin James David West was arrested on Aug. 8 and charged the following day after police said he talked with another student about the threat.

West spoke with that other student, according to the Salt Lake County Jail report, "about using a gun to shoot students at Broadview University.

"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."

West exchanged text messages with another student and said he would use a 3D-printed gun because it would be untraceable. A 3D printer was seized from his parents' house, where West was living.

3D-printed guns have recently made headlines because a company posted the blueprints to create one on its website. A federal judge intervened and blocked the blueprints' release, an order that was extended this week. 

The company is now disobeying the order and selling them anyway. 

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