Pepper Spray Fumes Sicken 20 at High School

About 20 students and staff at Hoover High School were taken to local hospitals Wednesday suffering minor eye, throat and stomach irritations after a student’s vial of pepper spray discharged, authorities said.

None of the students and staff, some experiencing vomiting, headaches and other discomfort, were suffering serious or life-threatening conditions, Fire Department and school officials said.

“The worst symptom was vomiting,” said Battalion Chief Dave Starr, a Fire Department spokesman.

Vic Pallos, a school system spokesman, said the container of pepper spray, used for self-defense, was attached to a girl student’s key chain when another student grabbed for it, causing the spray to discharge. It appeared the students were involved in some sort of prank, he said.

“A small vial went off by accident,” Pallos said. “The amount that was discharged we believe was small, but the pepper spray was strong enough to get into the ventilation system and affect several classrooms.”

Authorities said the principal’s office received notice of a disturbing odor about 8:45 a.m. In response, several classrooms were evacuated and students were taken to see the school nurse.

Ultimately about 100 students complained of some type of discomfort, although it was impossible to know how many had legitimate problems, school officials said. Fire officials and other emergency response personnel were called to the school about 10:30 a.m.

Starr said fire officials immediately began searching for the cause of the odor and tested the school’s air conditioning system. The classrooms in the immediate vicinity of the odor did not contain chemicals and there were not any carbon monoxide or gas leaks, he said.

Before long, it seemed likely that pepper spray might have caused the trouble, officials said.

Pallos said that although it is legal to carry pepper spray, it is not allowed on school campuses. The two students, both 12th-graders, were suspended for five days and may be expelled after a school district review, he said.

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School officials said that those taken to hospitals for evaluation included nine high school students, seven students from adjacent Toll Middle School who were attending a class at the high school, and four staff members.

Starr said that although pepper spray is a legal substance, it is illegal to spray it without good reason.

“We will be investigating whether it was sprayed intentionally and whether to pursue prosecution,” he said. “Obviously, this was quite a serious response involved so we may be looking at cost recovery issues.”

Hernandez is a Times staff writer and Ryfle is a correspondent.