Bomb Ingredient Reportedly Found in High School Locker
An ingredient used in incendiary devices was reportedly found in the locker of a sophomore at Walter Panas High School Friday morning after a two-hour search that caused an emergency evacuation of students and staff.
Westchester County Police, which led the investigation that included blood sniffing dogs and the bomb squad, were not commenting on the reason for the evacuation, but sources said something seen on social media belonging to the unidentified student, who is on the football and wrestling teams at Panas, triggered the law enforcement presence and closed campus.
Police also set their sights on a home on Winthrop Drive in Cortlandt, where water bottles filled with powder from fireworks and fuses were reportedly discovered.
Sean Petersen, 18, a senior at Panas, said he was in his third period class at about 9:30 a.m. when Principal Susan Straus announced an emergency evacuation drill over the loud speaker. Students were directed into the parking lot where some waited in their cars, while others sat in school buses, for nearly two hours before they were allowed back inside.
Students were prevented from leaving school grounds. When some students managed to exit on Croton Avenue, they were stopped by police and ushered back to Panas.
“It was an eventful day,” Petersen said. “Nobody really knew for sure what was going on. Nobody had the same story. I thought the (school) day was over. Kids were joking about it later. I had a blast.”
Petersen and a 17-year-old junior at Panas, who requested anonymity, said they had heard napalm, a mixture of a thickening/gelling agent and petroleum or a similar fuel, was discovered in the student’s locker.
Rick has more than 40 years’ experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, running the gamut from politics and crime to sports and human interest. He has been an editor at Examiner Media since 2012. Read more from Rick’s editor-author bio here. Read Rick’s work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/pezzullo_rick-writer/