Student takes bomb to fair - Teacher suspended for role in project

Denver Post ^ | January 16, 2002 | Ryan Morganand Karen Rouse

[sarcasm]

Wednesday, January 16, 2002 - KIOWA - Kiowa School District has suspended a teacher for supervising a bomb-making science project, and the student who made the bomb and took it to school could face criminal charges.

An anonymous caller told police that a student had brought a bomb to the Kiowa High School science fair Thursday. When police arrived, they found a 17-year-old student with an explosive device, which they confiscated.

While the device was incapable of exploding, the student had the ingredients necessary to make a live bomb and instructions on how to use them, said Mike Knight, spokesman for the 18th Judicial District attorney's office.

Knight said the teacher had given at least one student an assignment "specifically about bombs." But he did not elaborate on what kind of bomb it was.

According to students, the teacher in charge of the science project was Randy Wilson, who declined to comment Tuesday night.

"Presently, I'm not discussing it with anyone," Wilson said.

According to the school's website, Wilson, 44, has been teaching in the district for two years.

Gregory Kruthaupt, superintendent of the Kiowa district, said the teacher was placed on paid administrative leave "pending the outcome of this investigation."

Kruthaupt said the student who brought the device to the science fair wasn't suspended, but Kruthaupt said an internal investigation would determine whether discipline for the student is appropriate.

Among the school's staff and faculty, only the suspended teacher knew about the bomb the student was building, Kruthaupt said.

"Until the day the science project was brought to the school, the only district employee aware of the science project was the student's teacher," he said.

Even so, after the bomb was on display, no one from the school called police, Knight said.

Kruthaupt emphasized that the student's bomb wasn't immediately capable of exploding.

"Our investigation indicates that this matter has at no time involved the presence of any operational explosive device," he said. "The safety of any students or staff at the school was never in danger as a result of the project."

The parents of the student who brought the bomb to the school declined to comment Tuesday night.

Knight said the district attorney's office will decide whether charges should be filed once the investigation is completed.

News of the incident has been the talk of Kiowa, a town of about 2,000 people 50 miles southeast of Denver.

One student said most of her classmates knew about the unusual science project. In a fair where most of the exhibits involved meal worms or volcanoes, she said, the bomb clearly stood out.

"We had a science fair, and people were talking about how this kid had made a bomb," said a 15-year-old Kiowa High School freshman whose mother asked that her name not be published. "Kids were talking about it in the hall. Then the cops came and took it outside."

Brianna Benson, a 16-year-old sophomore, said the student who brought the bomb is known for his sense of humor. "He's always joking around," she said.

[Rain-maker]

Dooooohhhhh....*hiccup*

[okie_tech]

Poor kid, when I was in school we actually made REAL bombs. Chem 101 was a very dangerous place to be. We would all be in prison for life for the stunts we pulled.

[NoCurrentFreeperByThatName]

While the device was incapable of exploding, the student had the ingredients necessary to make a live bomb and instructions on how to use them, said Mike Knight, spokesman for the 18th Judicial District attorney's office.

You know, you could probably make a bomb out of the simple household cleaning products that you have.

[Free the USA]

bump

[Billthedrill]

I'm kind of curious as to the makeup of this "bomb." I remember the hoohah raised by a student who made an "atomic bomb" for a science fair project a couple of years ago - based on public-source information and without a scrap of fissile material to make it go bang. People were acting like he'd intended to blow up a city - in fact, it wasn't even explosive enough to blow some common sense into their heads.

[testforecho]

Things do change. Way back in high school, our idiot teacher decided someone was trying to make napalm in the supply closet because the gasoline (or was it kerosene?) had leaked onto some styrofoam pellets on the floor.