Local News in Brief : 4 More Boys Arrested in Pipe Bomb Incident

Four more Newbury Park High School students have been arrested on suspicion of possessing explosive devices following the explosion of a pipe bomb at the school, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department said Tuesday.

Deputies arrested two boys Saturday and two more Monday, Detective Joe Braga said.

Detonation of a pipe bomb Friday forced evacuation of the school and resulted in the arrest that day of the 14-year-old boy who had made the device, deputies said.

A search of lockers at the school found four more unexploded devices, Braga said. The lockers belonged to the four boys, 14 to 15 years old, who were arrested Saturday and Monday, he said.

Braga said it had not been determined what the five boys planned to do with the devices, made with plastic sprinkler pipes and an undisclosed explosive material. Braga said the boy arrested Friday made the devices and had been attempting to sell them to schoolmates for $5. Although homemade, the bombs were powerful and dangerous, Braga said.

“These weren’t firecrackers,” Braga said. “They were bombs. We are very fortunate nobody got killed.”

All five suspects were released to their parents following the arrests, Braga said.