A device called the Redmond bottle bomb exploded about 7:40 a.m. Monday between two school buses parked at Emily Dickinson Elementary School and Explorer Community School in unincorporated King County. The Redmond bottle bomb explosion caused minor injuries to one school bus driver. Fortunately, nobody else was hurt.
The so-called Redmond bottle bomb device is being called by the King County Sheriff's Office as an "acid bomb." It went off in the parking lot of the elementary schools exactly in 7000 block of 208th Avenue Northeast, reported KIRO TV.
The King County Sheriff's public information officer's Twitter account released a statement around 11:15 a.m. following the Redmond bottle bomb incident.
"Bomb deputies clear scene. Device was an acid bomb, commonly made by juveniles. It wasn't a sophisticated device," stated the sheriff's office via Twitter.
Since class for both elementary schools starts at 9 a.m., no students were present during the Redmond bottle bomb explosion, and no student was hurt. The two elementary schools have been closed Monday following the incident for police activity. The King County Sheriff's Office reportedly performed a sweep of the campus for additional devices.
Evergreen Middle School (EMS), another school nearby the Redmond bottle bomb explosion, went on modified lockdown but with classes as scheduled. Students were made to stay inside the school building, according to the Redmond Reporter.
"There was nothing," said Sgt. DB Gates with the sheriff's office after a sweep of both elementary schools came up clean. There were also no additional devices found, she added.
Meanwhile, Gates described the Redmond bottle bomb device as a two-liter soda bottle. However, authorities are not sure until the KCSO's explosives response team does further examination on the device.
Described by investigators determined as an acid bomb of a type commonly made by juveniles, the Redmond bottle bomb device contained small parts of wadded duct tape or foil which were ejected as the device exploded, according to KONO News.
The two buses were parked in the Dickinson parking lot for a layover between their middle school and elementary school runs, said Kathryn Reith, communications director for the Lake Washington School District (LWSD).
"Some kind of device went off," Reith said.
Reith added that one of the drivers was walking over to the second bus when the Redmond bottle bomb exploded. The driver was reportedly hit by the plastic shards from the bottle that was filled with low-level acid, like a common housecleaner. The other driver was taken to a hospital for possible chemical exposure. Thankfully, nobody was severely injured from the incident.
After arriving at the school, Dickinson and Explorer students have been taken to the gym at EMS (6900 208th Ave. N.E.), to be reunited with their parents, Reith said.
Because of the Redmond bottle bomb incident, the Lake Washington School District is planning to open schools Tuesday.
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