Incident at Provo Canyon Behavioral School leads to lockdown and large police presence, police say

PROVO – A large police presence at Provo Canyon School in Springville was due to a “lockdown situation” Sunday, according to Springville police.

Describing the situation, Lieutenant Warren Foster said customers were “out of control” and attempted to take over the establishment. As a result, Springville police, Provo police and Spanish Fork officers responded to the school to handle the incident.

Additionally, Foster said he is still gathering more information as part of the investigation and will update as more information becomes available.

Provo Canyon School issued the following statement regarding the incident through CEO Tim Marshall:

Yesterday, people in our care damaged several windows in one of our buildings. The police were called to help. Nobody was injured. Staff and patients are safe. There were no arrests. We thank the Springville and Mapleton Police Departments for their quick response. Provo Canyon School is open and fully operational.

The school, which serves high school boys and girls as well as middle school boys, previously came under scrutiny after Paris Hilton and other women came forward saying they were abused during treatment at the school. Provo Canyon School has long maintained that the allegations coincided with the school’s previous ownership, which changed in 2000. However, several allegations were made after 2000.

Hilton advocated for the school’s closure in a documentary released in 2020 and online, but the school has remained open since then.

Editor’s note: Police provided information in this case that was later redacted. It has been removed from this article.