Mountain lion sighting has Sandy schools on alert

Eastmont Middle School Principal Stacy Kurtzhals wasn't waiting for the tigers and bears. Oh my, a lion was enough to keep the kids inside on Tuesday.

Kurtzhals said the Sandy Police Department advised her early Tuesday morning that a mountain lion had been spotted in the neighborhood of her Canyons School District campus at 10100 S. 1300 East. That led to a "shelter in place" order for the school's 900 children.

"We decided to keep the students inside today as a precaution," the principal said, adding that the big cat had not been seen by anyone at the school as of late Tuesday morning.

Sandy police spokesman John Arnold said Edgemont Elementary School also was on a shelter-in-place Tuesday morning, but the cautionary advisories to the schools were lifted late Tuesday morning after state Division of Wildlife Resources officers failed to locate the beast.

The lion, though to have wandered from the Wasatch foothills, reportedly had been seen in a number of residential backyards about dawn on Tuesday.

(This story has been updated to correct the Eastmont Middle School address).

remims@sltrib.com

Twitter: @remims