Police arrest Utah students accused of school bomb plot

Police in Utah have arrested two high school students accused of making detailed plans to bomb a school assembly and then escape in a plane they planned to fly themselves, police said on Thursday.

The duo, 18-year-old Dallin Morgan and 16-year-old Joshua Hoggan, were arrested on Wednesday after being pulled out of classes at their high school in the city of Roy, about 30 miles north of Salt Lake City, Roy Police spokeswoman Anna Bond said.

"Initial investigative discovery has uncovered a plan to use explosives during a high school assembly," Bond said in a statement.

"Maps of the school and information about security systems had been prepared with plans for an escape using a plane from the Ogden Hinckley Airport," she added. "Self-taught usage of technical flight simulation programs were used in the planning and preparation."

The students were both booked on suspicion of conspiracy. Morgan was being held in the Weber County Jail while Hoggan was at a juvenile facility, police said.

No explosives were found at the school during the investigation, which was prompted by a tip from a student.

"It was really the work of a heroic student coming forward with a tiny piece of information that she took to the school, and the school contacted police," Bond said.

It was not clear when the attack on the school assembly was scheduled to occur. The school was in session on Thursday. The FBI will assist in a forensic analysis of the computers used by the students, police said.