Pepper Spray Used By Elementary Student

When a twelve-year-old elementary student smuggled a canister of pepper spray into her school in Grays Ferry (South Philadelphia) she didn’t expect to leave in handcuffs. Imagine sitting in class, doing your ABCs and suddenly find your throated irritated to the point of coughing because someone used pepper spray in your classroom.

At about 10:15 a.m., school officials called to report that someone had unleashed the noxious substance on the third floor of Alcorn Elementary School. The student population hovers around 570 students, plus faculty and staff. School staffers were tipped off by two students who went to the school nurse because they felt sick as a result of the fumes.

Crews from both the Police and Fire Departments rushed to the school where faculty and staff moved students. Since the incident took place on the third floor, students shifted to ground level. According to Executive Fire Chief Daniel Williams, about sixty students and one teacher received attention from medics for coughing due to severe irritation. This came during the large scale emergency response from. Williams said no one requested hospital treatment.

Police spokeswoman Officer Jillian Russell stated that the pepper spray was in a twelve-year olds bag but that a second student took out the canister and passed it to other students, one of whom sprayed it in the classroom.

School district spokesman Fernando Gallard said action could be taken against more than one student but that the entire matter was under investigation. As for the student who brought the pepper spray to school, she faces an immediate five- to ten-day suspension in accordance with school board guidelines. However, the board could take further action, pending a review. The student was charged with a misdemeanor count of possessing a weapon in school.