Two juveniles are in custody in connection with a firecracker explosion at Opelousas High School.
That explosion forced officials to evacuate the school. While the situation ended up not being a bomb, police and school officials are not taking the situation lightly.
Tuesday morning, police conducted searches and patrolled the hallways. Many parents signed their children out of school.
“I was wondering if the school was on fire. If students were safe and everything so that’s why I rushed over here,” parent Ronald Colla said.
Principal Dr. Myron Spencer says the firecracker exploded minutes before the bell rang for students to switch classes.
Smoke filled the halls, sending panic through the school
“My main concern was to see whether or not anyone was injured,” Principal Myron Spencer said. “Thank God it wasn’t anything but a firework small enough to go into the neck of a water bottle.”
The students responsible could be expelled and will face criminal charges.
” It causes a lot of resources to be utilized, by coming in with firefighters, police and so forth,” Superintendent Patrick Jenkins said. “We take these things seriously. If those students are identified then we’re going to do everything we can do under the law.”
A move some parents hope will make others think twice before pulling a stunt like this.
“I think these kids need to stop playing these practical jokes,” Colla said. ” Because if it’s a real emergency people won’t respond and somebody can get hurt.”
UPDATE: Two male juveniles have been arrested after an incident at Opelousas High School today.
Both teens were arrested on charges of aggravated arson and criminal conspiracy after a firecracker set off in a bathroom sparked an evacuation of the school, according to authorities.
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UPDATE: The device that was set off in a boy’s bathroom at Opelousas High today was a firecracker, State Fire Marshal officials say.
The firecracker was set off in a bathroom trash can, officials say.
Four boys are being detained and questioned about the incident right now, officials say.
We’ll have more as the story develops.
As we reported earlier this morning, Opelousas High School was evacuated after some sort of device was set off inside a restroom this morning.
No one was injured, and all student and staff are safe.
Opelousas City Police, the Louisiana State Fire Marshal and the UL K-9 unit are searching the school for any explosive devices.
Opelousas Police and the Fire Marshal are investigating the incident.
Superintendent Patrick Jenkins has been notified and is currently en route to the school the make further assessments in regards to school closure, a police spokeswoman said.
Parents arriving to the school will be allowed to remove their children if need be but is not necessary at this moment, police said.
This is a developing story. We have a crew en route and will update this story as soon as possible.
