Elementary School Evacuated When 8 Yr. Old Brings A Grenade For Show and Tell

Education

The Ezra Baker School, an elementary school in Dennis, Massachusetts, evacuated about 400 students from pre-K through third grade after an 8 year old boy brought a grenade to school for show and tell.

The excited little boy told his teacher upon arriving that he had a grenade in his backpack but not to worry because it was a toy.

In reality it was a WW II grenade, which after the authorities were called, the school evacuated and and fire fighters and police rushed to the scene, was discovered to be a hollowed out grenade of World War II/Korean War vintage and not a danger to anyone.

The grenade was taken by the police to be given to the state police bomb squad as a precaution, according to Dennis Police Capt. William Monahan, who said, "With something like this you don’t want to be wrong. It could be a case where the explosive was removed, but the charge remained.”

The police say it is just an innocent mistake on the part of the child who "who hopefully won’t get into too much trouble with his mom.”

The school principal, Kevin Depin, says they are treating this seriously but fairly and concludes with, "We have to strongly emphasize with all our students that this is not something you want to bring to school.”

From the school's website we see that Mr. Depin has also issued a letter (1 page PDF) to all parents of the school:

April 9, 2008

Dear Families of the Ezra H. Baker School:

This call is to alert you to a situation that occurred at our school this morning.
A student brought what appeared to be a hollowed out grenade to school in his backpack.
He told his teacher, who alerted me immediately. I removed the backpack from the
building, and called local fire and police who responded immediately. Students were
evacuated to the rear of the building as a precaution.

Authorities determined that there was no danger. Students reentered the building and
carried on with their day. Please know that we will deal with this infraction fairly but
strongly. Please remember to check your child’s backpack before he/she leaves for
school.

As always, thank you for your help and support.

Poor kid never got his show and tell day.

Can you just imagine the teachers reaction upon seeing that grenade?

H/T Detention Slip

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