A Florida teen with an exemplary record is facing federal charges after conducting what a classmate calls “a science project gone bad.”
A 16-year-old Bartow High School student was arrested Monday on allegations she detonated a bottle of explosive materials on the school grounds.
No one was hurt in the morning explosion, nor was school property damaged, said Principal Ron Pritchard.
Kiera Roslyn Wilmot, of 1370 N. Wilson Ave., Apt. 505, was charged with making, possessing or discharging a destructive device and with possessing or discharging weapons on school grounds. Both charges are felonies.
The girl told authorities she was conducting a science experiment, according to Bartow police, but science teachers at the school said they knew nothing about it. She also said she thought the materials would produce only smoke, not an explosion, police said.
Pritchard said he was standing nearby when the student left the drink bottle behind the cafeteria, near the lake on the school's east side.
"It was next to the gazebo by the lake," he said. "I wasn't standing too far away when it happened. I just heard the pop, and I turned around. I thought it was a firecracker at first."
Household materials were used to create the explosion, said Bartow police Lt. Gary McLin. He declined to say what those materials were, but said the information is available through the Internet.
Pritchard said the girl didn't leave the area after the bottle exploded.
"She left it on the ground, and she stayed there," he said. "We went over to where she was. She saw that we saw her, so she didn't take off."
He said she was taken to the school's office, where police took her into custody.
The explosion occurred about 7 a.m., about the time classes started.
"There weren't a lot of kids there," Pritchard said. "There were maybe half a dozen kids in the area where she was, and nobody was hurt by it."
Wilmot was transported to the county's Juvenile Assessment Center in Bartow following her arrest.
America gone mad.
ReplyDeleteI decided on a thermite reaction as a chem lab experiment, in the '60's. I went to the many local machine shops working in the aerospace sector, collecting various metal filings. They were happy to advise on the best ones, such as aluminum, ferrite, and magnesium. What a grand display! My desktop volcano burned a hole through the asbestos ceiling, and chem lab was shut down for weeks. Today, I would have been sent to Gitmo.
ReplyDeleteWhy is her address posted in the article?
ReplyDeleteI doubt that the charges will stick for I do not believe any "explosives" were involved. I think it most likely that she combined chemicals that generated gas within an enclosed space (plastic bottle) and the gasses exerted enough pressure to rupture the bottle. I doubt any definition of "explosive" would encompass that.
ReplyDeleteThey actually print a minor's address?!?! WOW!
ReplyDeleteWell as soon as the matter gets sorted out with a reasonably well informed judge dismissing the charges for the poor girl, she can then turn around and sue the arse out of whoever published her address. How boneheaded was the person or people who let that one get through.
ReplyDeleteAs for explosion, "pop" doesn't sound like a bomb to me, sounds like an overpressure reaction within the bottle.