TAMPA — A small explosive device blew up in a hallway at Chamberlain High School on Monday morning, injuring a teenage girl and temporarily putting the school on lockdown, Tampa police said.
The device exploded about 8:30 a.m, burning the clothing of an 18-year-old student and injuring her left wrist and leg, police said.
The bomb team deactivated a second device at the school that was found in a nearby boy's restroom. No other devices were found in the school.
Police said the explosion was caused by what they described as an acid bomb: a plastic bottle filled with household chemicals.
The girl was treated at the scene will not require hospitalization, police said. The girl's mother took her home.
"The school is safe,'' said Tampa police spokeswoman Laura McElroy.
She said investigators have a detailed description of the person they think brought the devices to school.
"There's no previous indication that someone was going to bring a destructive device to the school,'' said Hillsborough spokewoman Linda Cobbe.
Anthony Da'ray, a 16-year-old sophomore whose parents dropped him at school after the explosion, said he heard about it on Facebook.
"I don't want to lose my life because of some stupid kid,'' he said.
Nancy Benitez, who arrived at the school about noon to pick up her niece, expressed concerns about safety at Chamberlain.
"I think I'm going to withdraw my niece from the school completely," she said.
The lockdown was lifted at noon.
Here's how police and school officials described the incident:
During second period at about 8:30 a.m., a teacher was walking students in a class down a hall. Someone then threw the explosive device out of another classroom and it exploded, injuring the 18-year-old.
School administrators were informed and Tampa police were called. The school was put on lockdown while the bomb squad searched. Police started interviewing several suspects after the bombs were found, but no arrests were made by early Monday afternoon.
Schools start to see more disruptive activity as the year's end approaches, Cobbe said. But she had a warning for students.
"Don't do it," she said. "We will prosecute. Law enforcement will investigate and you will be taken to jail."
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