Student arrested after allegedly creating explosive

DICKINSON, TX Authorities say the seventh grader's future at the school is now questionable since bringing a banned chemical to school and forcing a small evacuation.

The last week of school at McAdams Junior High was uneventful until Tuesday when lunch was abruptly interrupted.

"A big boom," eighth grade student Ismil Lopez said.

That's what Lopez heard coming from the gym.

When Galveston County deputies assigned to the school went to investigate, under the bleachers they found the source.

"What they found was a bottle, aluminum foil and some household cleaner that put together makes a nasty chemical reaction," Major Ray Tuttoilmondo said.

Four students suffered minor chemical burns as a result. The seventh grader who made the device was not injured. He told authorities finding the recipe was easy. The recipe, along with video of an explosion, is on YouTube.

Tuttoilmondo says the 13-year-old is lucky the damage wasn't worse.

"It could have caused some reaction that started a fire, could've caused an explosion, could've cause a whole variety of different things, in which a whole lot of people could've gotten hurt," Tuttoilmondo said.

Instead, the injured were treated by the school nurse and the boy who made the device was charged with arson. He also faces the scrutiny of other students.

"It was dumb," Lopez said. "He could have messed up a lot of people."

Since the 13-year-old boy is a juvenile, authorities aren't releasing his name. A spokesperson for Dickinson ISD said disciplinary action against the boy has not yet been decided.