Teacher Hurt When Old Ammo Explodes in Class

latimes.com ^ | April 5, 2006 | Gregory W. Griggs

[rawhide]

A Ventura educator remained hospitalized Tuesday after a decades' old round of military ammunition he used as a paperweight exploded in his classroom, authorities said.

Robert Colla, an instructor at the Ventura Adult Education Center for five years, suffered severe damage to his right hand when the device detonated Monday afternoon. None of the more than 20 students in his computer drawing class was injured, officials said.

Co-workers said Colla found the large piece of ammo — believed to be a 40-millimeter round — when he was a child and thought it was harmless. It was a regular fixture in his classroom.

"This is not something he just found last week," said Barry Tronstad, director of the center on Valentine Road. "It's something he played with when he was a little boy."

Tronstad said Colla worked in the mechanical drafting industry before joining the adult center, where he began as an instructional assistant and moved up to instructor. "He's just an excellent teacher," Tronstad said. He said Colla was in his mid-40s and married with school-age children.

Administrators at the center and the Ventura Unified School District are still investigating, but witnesses said Colla was using the paperweight either to bang an object on his desk that was making noise or to get the students' attention.

[familyop]

"It was probably not a grenade but an artillery round, anti-aircraft."

Thanks.

If it had been an old 40mm grenade, it's likely that only the primer would have gotten him (bad enough, for sure). The grenades have to twist (e.g., after firing through the short, rifled tube) in order to arm. I was an M203 grenadier for a few years, and that's why it caught my attention.

[RightWhale]

Yeah, that would have been bad in the room. Just a finger cut off and some pieces of the shell to pick out of his skin and he was lucky. More of a pop than a bang.

[Nik Naym]

"...but witnesses said Colla was using the paperweight ... to get the students' attention."

I bet it worked!

[Right Wing Assault]

Hey, Mr. Colla, do that again!

[Oztrich Boy]

witnesses said Colla was using the paperweight either to bang an object on his desk that was making noise or to get the students' attention.

Exploding 40mm round 'll do it.

[AlexandriaDuke]

(Finally, I get to post this):

Where were teachers like this when I was a kid????

[randog]

I am really curious as to where he grew up that he found a live forty millimeter round just laying around waiting for a little boy to pickup and take home.

My wife grew up next to the Nevada Test Site. You'd be amazed at what her family has picked up off the desert floor over the years.

[Pontiac]

My wife grew up next to the Nevada Test Site.

Did she pick up any of the pretty green glass?

[packrat35]

When I was younger, we had some old 20 mm shells we used to bang on with a hammer. Never got them to fire and I am glad now. We did throw some in a fire and they did explode then, while we were safely away.

[Oztrich Boy]

Good point. the old 40mm Bofors Pompom was widely used as antiaircraft round in WWII.

Not quite. The 40mm Bofors is still in current use. The 2pdr pom-pom was a different, lower muzzle velocity, less effective weapon - still in use but obsolete by world war II (40mm upper - pom-pom lower)

2 Pdr Pom Pom suffered from frequent jamming problems and it became the norm to issue a large mallet with each mounting in order to give the offending breech a "Seamanlike" whack to free the guns mechanism up again.

[garandgal]

Exploding 40mm round 'll do it.

No kidding. Two weeks ago, a AA battery that I'd taken out of my digital camera a few days earlier (and placed in my car's little catch-all on the console) exploded while I was driving down the road. Who knew??

My ear (and the side of my head) hurt for two days from the noise.

[Donald Meaker]

Thanks, I did have them confused.

I think that we had short range artillery posted all up and down the coast of california during 1942. Pompoms, 37mm, 3 inch guns (later used as antitank guns) or 90mm (also used as antitank guns).

[paul51]

What was it doing there in the first place. If a kid bought any kind of cartridge to school, he'd be suspended.

[308MBR]

Love that tag line!

A most fitting thing for the day that "No fat to cut in this budget" DeLay hits the trail.

Now less than 270 to go.

[Welsh Rabbit]

I am really curious as to where he grew up that he found a live forty millimeter round just laying around waiting for a little boy to pickup and take home.

Probably on or near a military installation. When I was a kid, my best friend found an old, unexploded pineapple grenade in some woods that had once been a training area at Ft. Lewis, WA. His dad took it to the MPs who then called the bomb squad. There used to be public service announcements aimed towards us military brats warning of the dangers of playing with duds.

[Candor7]

He shouldn't be a teacher if he doesn't know you should not bang on a live round...>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Any bets on whether he is a registered Democrat?

Acted like a liberal educator to me.

[AmericaUnited]

This timeless mother's saying seems appropriate...

"It's always fun and games till someone loses an eye"

[Ichneumon]

No kidding. Two weeks ago, a AA battery that I'd taken out of my digital camera a few days earlier (and placed in my car's little catch-all on the console) exploded while I was driving down the road. Who knew??

I'll bet you had some other odds and ends in there with it, like coins or keys, which managed to jostle around and electrically short-circuit the two ends of the battery.

[panaxanax]

So much for "zero tolerance" at this school. Lucky he didn't have a picture of a gun.

[chemicalman]

Blowed up real good.