Schools
NH Schools: Mace Likely Caused Symptoms That Prompted Evacuation
What was initially reported as a noxious smell caused people to become ill and their eyes to water.
NEW HAVEN — The irritant that caused a classroom and school building to be evacuated for a time Thursday is believed to have been some sort of "defensive spray," such as mace.
The incident happened in the morning at the Wexler-Grant Community School in New Haven, a public pre-kindergarten through eighth-grade facility at 55 Foote St.
According to a release issued later in the day by the city's school system, 12 pupils and two teachers were checked by medical staff after experience symptoms of some sort of airborne irritant.
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Those symptoms, New Haven school officials said, included watery eyes and scratchy throats and they all were taken to Yale-New Haven Hospital as a precaution.
School officials said the New Haven Fire Department found evidence of contamination with a defensive spray, such as mace, in a cubicle in the classroom.
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That classroom was vented and cleaned and classes were expected to return to normal Friday.
For information on the Wexler-Grant Community School, visit this link.
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