Eleven Hospitalized After Student Sets Off Pepper Spray at Seagull Alternative High School

Nine students--some pregnant--and two staff members were hospitalized Friday afternoon when a student attacked another student with pepper spray at Seagull Alternative High School, says the Broward County school board. "The perpetrator has been arrested, there's been a suspension, and an expulsion is recommended," says spokesperson Marsy Smith.According to district...

By Lisa Gartner

April 9, 2010

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Nine students--some pregnant--and two staff members were hospitalized Friday afternoon when a student attacked another student with pepper spray at Seagull Alternative High School, says the Broward County school board. "The perpetrator has been arrested, there's been a suspension, and an expulsion is recommended," says spokesperson Marsy Smith.

According to district spokesperson Nadine Drew, a female student intentionally released pepper spray on another female student in the school cafeteria. "Unfortunately a number of others were affected by the spray," Drew says. The students and two cafeteria workers were transported to Broward General Hospital, where they were treated and released by 4 p.m.

Although no one sustained serious injuries, some of the students are pregnant, and one staffer has asthma, "so there was an extra reason to be concerned," district spokesperson Nadine Drew says. As a precaution, paramedics were called.

School administrators are at this time unclear of the attacker's motive.

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