Police & FBI investigate after student ‘accidentally’ detonates explosive device in CLASS, injuring 4 students

https://www.rt.com/usa/517562-michigan-school-explosion-device/

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A blast ripped through a class at a Michigan high school, injuring five students and prompting all county schools to be put on lockdown. Police believe the explosive device was brought by a student and burst in a freak accident.

The explosion took place inside a classroom, shortly after lessons kicked off at Newaygo High School at around 9:00 am on Monday local time. The blast injured at least five people, including a 16-year-old student, who is believed to have brought the device to school in the first place.

While police have yet to identify the material the “homemade explosive device” was made of, local media reported that it was not a firework, citing officers.

The explosion triggered a full evacuation of the school, and saw police briefly place all schools in the district on lockdown. The 16-year-old was taken to hospital with severe injuries, while four of his classmates and a teacher had to be treated for mild wounds.

It’s unclear what prompted the student to bring explosives to school in the first place, but police said the teen apparently did not mean to detonate the bomb in class.

“We don’t believe it was any kind of malicious intent on behalf of the student,” Michigan State Police Specialist Lieutenant Michelle Robinson told a press conference on Monday. 

Newaygo Public Schools Superintendent Peg Mathis threw weight behind police’s preliminary findings, saying in a post on social media that the blast “was not somebody planting an explosive device in order to hurt our students” but was a result of “a serious lack of judgment.” The post has since been deleted.

There have been reports in local media, however, that the bomber was aware of what he was doing, but misjudged the size of the blast.

News 8 reported, citing investigators, that the student “didn’t understand how big the resulting explosion would be.”

In addition to the local police department and the Michigan State Police, the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are involved in the investigation into the incident.

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