Five fifth-graders were arrested for ‘plotting to set off a bomb at a New Jersey high school while visiting on a field trip’. The five students were all between the ages of 10 and 11 years old .The police has said that Teachers and administrators found suspicious letters from the students claiming they were going to ‘attack’ Clifton High School. The school then notified the Clifton Police Department.
About 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, police received a call from school officials who said they had uncovered written plans by the fifth-graders to bring an explosive device to the high school during a field trip that was scheduled for later in the afternoon, said Detective Sgt. Robert Bracken, spokesman for the Police Department.
Police also claimed to discover a ‘suspicious device’ while they were investigating the threat. The device was then found to be non-explosive, but the incident is not being treated as a prank. Police has said that they brought a device to school and were planning on using it during a field trip to Clifton High School. Although, the device was later determined to be non-explosive, investigators however have said that the incident was not a prank. On Wednesday, the students who attend the kindergarten to fifth grade School 11 in Clifton, were detained. . The children were suspended but no charges have been laid.
“They didn’t have the right equipment, but the intent was there,” Detective Sgt. Robert Bracken, spokesman for the Police Department. said. “This is very disturbing,” he said, and added that the situation is under investigation, as is the motive.
According to police, the five detained children have since been released to their families. However, their names will not be disclosed because of their ages. Police has described the incident as an isolated incident and at present there are no safety issues at the school. Clifton Police Department is working with the Passaic Prosecutor’s Office to determine if there will be any charges.
“It was not a prank,” Detective Sgt. Robert Bracken said, according to NJ.com, a local news website, adding: “They had a legitimate plan.” News 12 New Jersey has also reported that the Police also believe someone may have helped the students formulate the plan. The students from the Merselis Avenue elementary school were to attend an event at the high school, which was canceled following the discovery.
The latest report comes during a time when attacks at American schools and colleges is rising steadily. In October, a shooting at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon, killed 10 people and left seven injured. In May, a student at a community college shot and stabbed people near the University of California, killing six people and wounding 13 others.
The students involved in this case have been released into their parents’ custody later on Wednesday. All five have been suspended from the school. At this point the investigation is still on going and no such criminal charges have been filed on them.
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