An Akron, Ohio, teenager is being charged with “inducing panic” after he allegedly threw a lit firecracker stuffed inside a glue stick at a teacher last month. The 14-year-old boy reportedly launched the makeshift bomb—which didn’t explode—in retaliation for a suspension the teacher had given him. The incident happened on October 12 at North High School in Akron.
According to police, a large firecracker—possibly an M-80—was carved into the glue stick and a freshman tossed the smoking school supply towards a teacher’s desk.
Students fled the classroom, but the explosive did not detonate because the flame on the wick diffused.
“We are fortunate. Sometimes you’re fortunate. In this case, it didn’t explode,” said Mark Williamson, spokesman for the Akron Public Schools.
According to the police report, officers found a note on the explosive that included a teacher’s name, along with the words, “You will pay” and “School Shooter.”
In addition, police discovered statements on the teen’s Facebook page that threatened to kill the teacher and bring “a grenade to school and blow it up.”
Williamson said the boy was upset at the teacher for giving him an in-school suspension a day earlier.
The school did not call or send letters home to parents after the potentially explosive incident happened in one of its classrooms, which has some students concerned.
“I think that parents should have been notified definitely and I think students should know what’s going on in their school,” said Margaret Wright, a junior.
Williamson defended the lack of notifications, saying it was a “judgment call.”
The student in question was suspended for 10 days, but now no longer attends North High School. He has a hearing in Summit County Juvenile Court scheduled for Dec. 7.
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