Tonganoxie sixth-grader charged for explosive device confiscated at school

A 12-year-old Tonganoxie boy, accused of taking an explosive device to school, faces felony and misdemeanor charges in Leavenworth County District Court.

Todd Thompson, Leavenworth County attorney, said he filed two charges: unlawful possession of explosives in an occupied building, which is a felony, and carry and conceal of an explosive, a misdemeanor. The boy had his first court appearance on Monday.

A Tonganoxie Middle School student was taken into police custody Thursday after school officials confiscated a homemade device, which was a cardboard BB wrapper with a fuse that had been packed with BBs and the powder of two M-80s.

Mike Vestal, Tonganoxie mayor and police dispatcher, said the device had the potential to injure or kill people if ignited.

A bomb squad safely detonated the device at a nearby quarry.

Tonganoxie police said the student, a sixth-grader, was showing off the small device to other students at school when one of them contacted school administrators. Police said the device was equivalent to one-third of a stick of dynamite.

The student is serving a 10-day suspension, during which an expulsion hearing will take place. Normal discipline for such an offense in the Tonganoxie district is expulsion for the remainder of the school year or for a full calendar year, said Kyle Hayden, assistant superintendent.