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Court date set for student who brought bomb to school

By Staff | Mar 25, 2009

A Tonganoxie Middle School student will appear at 1 p.m. April 7 in Leavenworth County District Court.

The sixth-grader is appearing in court following a Jan. 22 incident in which the boy brought a homemade explosive device to school.

According to Tonganoxie police, the TMS student was showing off the small device to other students at school when one of the other students contacted school administrators. Assistant principal Mark Altman brought the student to his office and confiscated the device. Police said the device was equivalent to one-third of a stick of dynamite.

Police described the device as a cardboard BB wrapper, with a fuse, that had been packed with BBs and the powder of two M-80s. Mike Vestal, Tonganoxie mayor and police dispatcher, said the homemade device had the potential to injure or kill people if ignited.

Regarding the youth’s discipline within the school district, a discipline hearing was held Feb. 4 and a three-member administrative committee made a decision based upon the evidence presented. Assistant superintendent Kyle Hayden said he could not comment on the committee’s decision, as it was a student confidentiality issue.