Duval County

Highlands Middle School pepper-spray incident: Student sprayed it thinking canister was body spray

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Action News Jax reporter Meghan Moriarty speaks to parents about the school’s response to the incident on CBS47 and FOX30 Action News Jax at 5.

QUICK FACTS:

  • A middle school student received a juvenile civil citation after a pepper spray incident sent 41 students to local area hospitals.
  • Action News Jax first told you about the incident last Friday.
  • On Thursday, Duval County Public Schools released a statement saying, in part, that a student brought a small canister of pepper spray to school for “personal use.” It goes on to say, another student took the canister, thinking it was body spray, and sprayed it all over himself.
  • The district said it called parents to notify them of the incident, but some phone numbers were deactivated or blocked.
  • The school is asking for parents to call or stop by the main office to update their contact information for the future. This comes after several parents criticized the school for lack of communication on the incident.

Below is the full statement from the school:

Dear Highlands Middle School Families,

This is Principal Daniels calling from Highlands Middle School. Given the magnitude of the disruption on our campus last Friday and the number of students and families impacted by the dispersion of pepper spray, I want to bring the situation to a close by sharing with you the conclusion of the investigation.

It turns out that one of our students was in possession of a small canister of pepper spray for personal use. While this is not a criminal offense, pepper spray of any quantity on campus is a prohibited item under the code of student conduct. This student will face appropriate disciplinary consequences for bringing a prohibited item on campus.

The pepper spray was dispersed when another student took the pepper spray from the first student’s belongings. Thinking it was body spray, the student who took the canister actually sprayed himself as if he were applying a body fragrance product. Following the dispersion, the gymnasium was evacuated and ultimately 41 students were transported to area hospitals for care. While this was obviously a major disruption, the investigation revealed that there was no intention to disrupt school, and therefore, there is no basis for more serious charges. The student who took the pepper spray was issued a juvenile civil citation.

In our handling of the communication around this situation, we learned that many of you may not have received our telephone calls with updates following the event. If you did not receive our telephone call, please take a moment this week to stop by our office, update your information in focus and make sure we have permission to reach you via telephone.

I hope this helps bring closure to the incident. If you have further questions or feedback, please don’t hesitate to contact me at the school. As usual thanks for your continued support of the work being done at Highlands Middle School.



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