Three first-graders were suspended for allegedly plotting to poison a classmate at Winterberry Charter School in Anchorage, Alaska.
Police said the girls planned to put silica gel packets found in their lunchboxes into another student’s lunch, but were overheard by students who soon alerted school officials,
ABC News reported.
The girls reportedly didn’t know that the silica gel beads used in packaging are nontoxic.
“We’re grateful we had students come forward and share their concern,” Superintendent Ed Graff said, according to the network.
The school resource officer talked to all of the students involved in the incident. The plot wasn’t carried out, and no charges were filed.
“Given such a young age, it’s not clear if they knew what they were doing, if it was just a threat or something more serious,” Anchorage School District spokeswoman Heidi Embley
told KTVA-TV.
Officials also talked to other students at the school, encouraging them to speak up when they think someone is in danger.
“Student safety is the top priority in the Anchorage School District and we take all threats to student safety very seriously,” Embley said.
Embley told the Alaska Dispatch News that she couldn’t recall anything like this happening before, adding that school psychologists were involved in discussions about the incident.
“The age is one of things that is most surprising to people who were hearing about this. The kids are at such a young age,” Embley said. “Without revealing any information as to what occurred during the investigation, there are a lot of conversations to get an understanding of what actually happened, how the students were feeling.”
Twitter users seemed shocked by the incident.
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