Crime & Safety

Updated: Freshman Boy in Custody for 'Bomb' That Locked Down Park HS

The Racine Police Department confirmed Tuesday afternoon in a written release that a 14-year-old boy is in custody for attempting to leave a bomb in a trash can at Park High School.

Updated 2:59 p.m.

The Racine Police Department confirmed Tuesday afternoon in a written release that a freshman boy is in custody for causing the Tuesday morning lockdown of Washington Park High School.

"A 14 year old student of Park High School has been apprehended for Recklessly Endangering Safety and Possession of Explosive Materials and (he has been) placed in secure detention," wrote Sgt. Martin Pavalonis, spokesperson for the RPD.

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Despite tips into Patch about additional suspects or persons of interest, Pavalonis said police do not have anyone else in custody.

"No other apprehensions have resulted, and currently there are no other persons in custody," he wrote in an email to Patch.

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Racine police responded to Park High School at 8:10 a.m. Tuesday, for a report of a MacGyver bomb in the school.

Students were moved to the field house while police and fire personnel investigated the report. A MacGyver bomb is created by mixing household chemicals and items in a bottle, which then explodes. 

The RPD statement says the student did not assemble the ingredients correctly so the "bomb" didn't explode.

Something was removed from the school, but police say it was not a MacGyver bomb. They have not yet said what they found.

Authorities were called after people reported a strange odor in the school, according to Racine Unified Marketing and Communications Specialist Jane Fliss. Students were ushered to the field house while police and fire personnel investigated.

Racine Uncovered cites police scanner reports, saying something was found on the third floor about 8:45 a.m., and was then removed from Park. Evidence technicians were called to the school.

By 9:30 a.m. everyone was directed back to their classrooms. School will remain in session, with a modified schedule. 

Students inside the school told Patch they sat quietly in the dark in their classrooms for over 30 minutes before they were escorted to the field house. Some students said they heard a loud noise and some said they smelled something "funny."


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