Teen charged in high school chemical spill
SALMON CREEK, Wash. -- A 14-year-old freshman student has been arrested on suspicion of assault charges in connection to a chemical spill at Skyview High School.
The student was taken into custody on suspicion of two counts of second-degree assault and reckless endangerment. The unidentified teen is being held at Clark County Juvenile Detention Center.
Seven people were taken to the hospital on Thursday morning following the spill.
Deputies said those people suffered respiratory distress after being exposed to a noxious liquid.
Students and teachers in that wing of the school were evacuated from Skyview, located at 1300 NW 139th St., following the spill at 9:30 a.m.
Thursday afternoon, all of the four students and three adults, except for one person, had been discharged from the hospital, said Clark County sheriff's Sgt. Fred Neiman.
The spill took place after the student brought a container of bleach and ammonia to school. He showed it another student, who pushed it away, spilling the container, school officials said.
Firefighters and a hazmat team responded and directed the school to shut down the HVAC system. As of 11 a.m., a maintenance team were at the school to begin the cleanup process.
Deputies are investigating why the student brought the liquid to school; they plan to search his house, school officials said.
The Clark County Sheriff's Office's major crimes team is also investigating.
Firefighters say there is no longer a threat to students. Classes are still in session for the day; students are being allowed back into their classrooms, except for the room where the spill occurred.
so my daughter goes to Skyview and is part of the SMT program. (Science, Math and Technology) This "spill" happened in a class next door to the one she was in. I got the robo call from the school about the incident and thought that everything was safe for the kids.
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Even tho they say they evacuated the wing this happened in. My daughters teacher told the kids they could wait until the end of class and were not excused. The teacher did not let the class know what was going on so these kids were coughing, their eyes were burning and some were having problems breathing but nobody thought to check with the kids in the other classrooms.
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We were told that everything was clear, but apparently they had fumes in the ventilation system that went to the other classrooms. Today my daughter says that about half of students were not there and had to come home ill as she could still smell it. I have sent an email to the Principal as I believe that they should have sent the staff and students home.
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My daughter says that the student was expelled - didn't hear about any arrests from her.
Poor kid. He just wanted to make some cool crystals.
They expelled him.
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Why is KATU so slow on updates?
 @Mikey I would hope they did. Future Darwin Award nominee if he keeps up stupid stuff like that..... doh!
There is some serious stupidity surrounding Skyview High School this week.
For real.
If the kid had brought a gun, it would have read, "School Shooter." But this tame headline plays down the fact that it was indeed a "Chemical Attack", it was not a "Spill". Not that I'm endorsing media drama...just pointing out that media bias towards guns exists. Treat the problem---criminal behavior--not the low-hanging-fruit of firearm ownership.Â
Isn't Skyview the school that one player is from, who's dad spouted off on Facebook about hoping there was a shooting at Camas HS this past week?
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If so - oh the irony.....
@OSUx2  The exact same school.  Apparently there is not shortage of d bags in that area of Vancouver.
 @oh4FS Skyview is a rich / fancy school with a lot of the students living in a very affluent area of Salmon Creek / Felida. Expensive homes, wealthy families, etc. A lot.. of course not all.. have a spoiled brat mentality which leads to problems. :P
 @Liberty4_WA  @oh4FS My daughter goes to that school on a boundary exception as she is in SMT magnet. We are not rich by any means - Bay is the school she'd be going to if not or the boundary exception.
Bleach and ammonia react to form a toxic gas called monochloramine. That's why it says on your bleach "do not mix with ammonia," and vice-versa on your ammonia bottle.
 @alohan Or better known as Mustard gas...
 @dreinin86  @alohan that stuff goes great with sausage and saurkraut!
 @alohan Minus the sulfur.
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@Dr. Rawdog  Is that what youâve been huffin?
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This doesn't sound like an accidental spill. Perhaps the one who brought the two chemicals had other things on his mind?
 @jpk From what I've heard from people at Skyview, the person wielding the chemicals was going to pour them into the bathroom because it'd "be funny."
It's shameful to know that I go to school with people like this.
How odd. Search his house... and the 50 gallon barrels in the shed, too.
@Lips Don't forget the laundry room!
 @Lips They found a swimming pool! Hang him!
 @iamright555 You do realize that either one of those chemicals is toxic, and mixed together, they're scary, right? Although your comment did make me smile.
 @AmiM  @iamright555 When in doubt.. just use "Shout".