5 Cupertino 8th-Graders Arrested in School Blast

Police said Friday they have arrested five junior high school students who allegedly made at least seven pipe bombs, including one that exploded in a school restroom, by following instructions in a book.

The eighth-grade students, all 13 to 14 years old, were arrested after a pipe bomb exploded in a boys’ restroom Wednesday at Cupertino Junior High School, said Capt. Al Scott of the Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety.

School officials in this upper-income suburb of San Jose said as many as 10 of the 745 students at the school may have been involved in buying or selling explosive materials. Scott said the investigation is continuing.

No One Injured

No one was injured, and there was only superficial damage to the walls of the restroom.

“Those bombs can be deadly,” Scott said. “They were fairly well done. The kids apparently just followed instructions from a book they read. We’re trying to determine what book it was. We haven’t found it yet.”

In addition to the bomb that exploded, another pipe bomb was found in a nurse’s office, Scott said, and five others were found in the boys’ homes, along with materials used to make the devices.

“Three of the boys near the explosion were held by school officials right afterward, and one of the boys may have put the bomb in the nurse’s office just to get rid of it,” Scott said.

Materials Readily Available

All the bombs were made with common plastic PVC pipe with caps on both ends and stuffed with explosive powder and a fuse, he said. All the materials could be bought in almost any hardware store, he said.

“Some of their parents were aware of the kinds of materials the kids were using, but I don’t think the parents were aware of the gravity of this, of how far it was going,” Scott said. “This was some in-depth experimentation on the kids’ part.”

The students were arrested for possession of explosive devices and materials and were being held in Santa Clara County Juvenile Hall.