School officials at a high school in Maryland are apologizing to parents after a group of senior students pulled a prank at the school simulating a mass shooting. The students behind it are now facing potential criminal charges.
School officials at a high school in Maryland are apologizing to parents after a group of senior students pulled a prank at the school simulating a mass shooting. The students behind it are now facing potential criminal charges.
WJLA reported that approximately 20 students participated in the prank on May 15. Clad in black masks ran into the school setting off firecrackers to simulate gunshots and then shot kids with squirt guns that were filled with various liquids.
Emily Birckhead, a student at the school, was imjured by the fireworks, and sustained second-degree burns on her ear, adding that someone squirted her with vinegar and that she had heard that other people were squirted with urine.
“I don’t know what had to go through somebody’s mind to pull off a prank like this in this day and age, so close to Parkland and then two days later to have the shooting today down in Texas,” Emily’s father, Steve, said. “It’s like these kids just weren’t thinking.”
School officials did not think the prank was funny at all and notified parents that the administration is pursuing possible criminal charges against the students.
“School administration is taking this incident very seriously and coordinating with local police; the students involved will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law and disciplined according to the PGCPS Student Code of Conduct,” Robynne Prince, the principal at Bowie High School in Bowie, wrote in a letter.
