News 12 at 11, October 6, 2008

WAYNESBORO --- It was a typical Wednesday morning at Burke County High School. Students gathered here in the mall area. But then everyone was caught off guard, when a student dropped a bottle that contained Drano mixed with aluminum strips that exploded.

"Completely unusual for Burke County High School. It's just something that we've never had occur here before and it took everybody by surprise. Students, teachers, parents, alike," Principal Wayne Hickman said.

No one was hurt and there was no damage to the school. The Burke County Sheriff's Office considers the incident a prank.

"You know we just can't have that. We're going to have school here in Burke County. We're not going to put up with this sort of thing," Sheriff Greg Coursey said.

Since then, they've increased security at the school. 8-12 deputies are here in the morning and afternoon, with random patrols through the day. They've also had the K-9 unit checking the school.

"After this happened, there were a lot of rumors going around that something bad was going to happen. Kids were text messaging one another and it was just running rampid," Sheriff Coursey said.

And they're not taking any chances. Sheriff Coursey says they're doing everything they can to have a safe environment for the students to learn. Starting October 20th, the school will require all students to either carry their books or have a clear or mesh bookbag so you can see what's inside. And every person who enters the school has to walk through a metal detector.

"There are pranks and then there are things like this which when it happens, everybody realizes there's just no way for this to be considered funny," Principal Hickman said.

Sheriff Coursey says they've questioned three students who they believe were involved in the prank, but they're still getting information from other students. The whole thing was caught on surveillance camera, and they sent that video to the GBI crime lab in Atlanta to inhance it. They want to see if they can identify the kids responsible for this prank.