Bottle Bomb Explodes at Cleveland High School

(Cleveland, Ohio) Yesterday at Collinwood High School a homemade bottle bomb comprised of cleaning solution and aluminum exploded. The school was evacuated and one student was briefly hospitalized. Two students, a 17-year-old and an 18-year-old, were arrested and charged with aggravated arson, arson, possession of a dangerous ordnance in school safety zone, and unlawful possession of deadly ordnance.

The bombing appears to be nothing more than a prank, however, Cleveland City Councilman Mike Polensek took the opportunity to sharply criticize school CEO Barbara Byrd Bennett for not rushing to the scene and for not establishing a zero tolerance policy regarding violence.

My take is that, if you take away the media exposure and the political opportunism, the bottle bomb event was an isolated incident and fairly minor in significance. It's been reported that the student who went to the hospital had a minor hearing problem due to the loud noise.