One student was arrested after an explosive device was found in a bathroom stall at a Tennessee high school, authorities said.
The student was arrested Friday on charges of possession of an explosive device, reckless endangerment and disorderly conduct, said Maury County Sheriff Bucky Rowland. Media reports say a school staff member found the device on a stall hand rail in an upstairs boys bathroom at Spring Hill High School.
The incident caused school officials to evacuate about 900 students Friday morning.
Tennessee Highway Patrol officials said the agency sent its Special Operations Bomb Team to the school, where technicians placed the device into what’s known as a “fragmentation bag.” Once in the bag, bomb technicians moved it to a safe location away from the school.
Technicians used a Percussion Actuated Neutralizer, which uses a 12-gauge shotgun shell or a water jet to essentially explode the contents of a package, the highway patrol said.
Mark Blackwood, director of Maury County Emergency Management, said the device “appeared to be very elaborate in the design and makeup of it,” though he couldn’t say specifically what it was made of.
“Based on the intelligence that was gathered, it had the real potential for potential bodily harm,” Blackwood said.
The chemicals are being analyzed and the investigation into the incident is ongoing.
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