2 Teens Booked in Bomb Blast at Simi School

Police arrested a 17-year-old Royal High School student Thursday morning on charges he built a small pipe bomb that injured four students when a classmate exploded it in the school’s crowded quad the day before.

The unidentified teen turned himself in at the Simi Valley police station, said Sgt. Bob Gardner, a police spokesman.

The boy was booked into Ventura County Juvenile Hall on suspicion of possessing a destructive device. An unidentified 16-year-old schoolmate was arrested Wednesday and booked on suspicion of detonating a destructive device.

District school board trustee Debbie Sandland called immediately for swift discipline.

“I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt that they will be recommended for expulsion. Kids have to be held accountable for their actions, period,” Sandland said.

“Thank God no one wound up getting seriously hurt. It was really a blessing that nothing worse happened,” she said. “This is one of those mindless, stupid things kids do. But it has to be taken very seriously. They put themselves and the entire student body and staff--the whole school--at risk.”

Police are trying to determine a motive for the bombing, but they believe it was a case of mischievous behavior, not an attempt to hurt anyone at the school, said Gardner.

“We don’t believe there was a target,” he said.

The 17-year-old made the bomb last weekend, using three-quarter-inch plastic pipe bought at a local plumbing store and gunpowder from a Simi Valley gun shop, Gardner said. The bomb was wrapped with electrical tape and lighted by fuse, he said.

Police officials said a person must be at least 18 to legally purchase reloading supplies such as gunpowder and bullets.

The 16-year-old took the device to school Wednesday morning.

At 11 a.m., at the height of the lunch hour, “He lit it and put it down” in the school’s open-air quad outside a classroom, Gardner said.

The boy told police he thought no one would be hurt and that he would not be caught, according to Sgt. Mike King.

But the device exploded, flinging plastic shrapnel that hit one girl in the leg and caused swelling but did not break her skin, police said. Three other students complained about earaches caused by the blast, but all four sought their own medical care, police said.

School officials immediately caught the 16-year-old after the explosion and held him for police, who negotiated to have the older boy surrender Thursday morning.

The boys face felony charges, Gardner said.

Mack Reed is a Times staff writer and Scott Steepleton is a correspondent. Times correspondent Kate Folmar also contributed to this story.