LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (AP) -- A suspicious device that was being dismantled exploded Thursday morning at an alternative high school in Leavenworth.
Students had been evacuated after the device was found about 10:30 a.m. and no one was injured.
The device was found in an office by staff at North Broadway Education Center, said Maj. Patrick Kitchens with the Leavenworth Police Department. It went off while technicians were trying to dismantle it, breaking some glass but causing no other damage, he said.
The technicians were using a device that shoots water at a high velocity, trying to separate the device's components. Kitchens said "99 percent of time" it defuses the explosive but "in this incident it caused the device to go off."
Police were not releasing details about the type of device while the investigation continues, he said.
Worried parents called as the school district worked to explain the situation.
"At around 6:15 this morning, discovered a device in her office tucked away somewhere beside a file cabinet," said Mike Aytes, Leavenworth Schools Superintendent. "[It was] some kind of cartridge with wires leading out of it."
Catey Edwards, communications coordinator for the Leavenworth School District, said students were sent to David Brewer Elementary School, where they were allowed to arrange rides home.
Friday classes at North Broadway have been canceled, Edwards said.
Police said they will continue to search the building to make sure there are no other devices and investigate who left the bomb.
The school, which serves about 100 students, provides diploma completion and credit recovery programs. Edwards did not know how many students were in the building at the time of the explosion.
Officials said other schools will be open on Friday.
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glad no one was hurt
