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Update: Four students arrested at Snyder High after fumes force evacuation

by Tom Shortell/The Jersey Journal
Thursday December 11, 2008, 8:05 PM

Today's evacuation of Jersey City's Snyder High School due to a chemical irritant that caused breathing problems at the school later erupted into a fight between police officers and students who were slow to leave the area when they were dismissed, officials said.

Batons extended, officers engaged in shoving matches with several students in front of the Bergen Avenue school house.

Four juveniles were arrested on charges ranging from assault, aggravated assault on a police officer, resisting arrest, failure to disperse, and disorderly conduct, said city spokesman Stan H. Eason.

The mysterious irritant, the source of which is still being investigated, sent four students and five teachers to the hospital, said school district spokeswoman Paula Christen.

John McKeegan, a spokesman for the Jersey City Medical Center said the hospital admitted at least four victims -- three students and one teacher. He expected them all to be treated and released quickly.

Trouble started at the school about 1:30 p.m., when administrators detected a strange odor that was causing some persons to have problems breathing, Christen said.

At that point, administrators evacuated the roughly 1,000 students next door to the gym at Academy 1 school, she said.

Jersey City firefighters arrived shortly after.

The department's Hazmat unit conducted two tests, both of which found nothing out of the ordinary, said Battalion Chief Jim Drennan.

A foreign irritant, possibly pepper spray, created the odor and the breathing problems, Drennan said.

Students were allowed re-entry to the school at 2:25 p.m. and were dismissed at 2:35 p.m., Christen said.

That's when police officers urged students to clear the area.

Several students shouted back out at the officers, some screamed in their faces. One officer pinned a student against the iron fence in front the school with his forearm. Another officer flung a student to the ground.

"The district will take the necessary steps to fully investigate this incident," Christen said. "The superintendent and the administration of the school will take the necessary steps to address the situation."

3 students charged in fighting after Snyder High evacuation

by Tom Shortell/The Jersey Journal
Thursday December 11, 2008, 3:09 PM

Reena Rose Sibayan/The Jersey JournalFirefighters outside Snyder High School in Jersey City, where a strange odor was detected and the school was evacuated.

Three students were arrested in fights that broke out after Snyder High School in Jersey City was evacuated this afternoon because of a strange odor in the building, Journal staff writer Tom Shortell is reporting from the scene.

Authorities believe the odor came from a pepper spray discharge in the building.

One student was accused of assaulting a police officer in the gym next to the school, where the students were brought when firefighters investigated the odor. Two other students were arrested outside the gym when dozens of students began brawling after they were allowed to leave the gym.
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Four Snyder students, three faculty members brought to JCMC today

by Tom Shortell/The Jersey Journal
Thursday December 11, 2008, 3:28 PM

A Jersey City firefighter and EMT at Snyder High School today to treat students and faculty who were having trouble breathing.

Four students and three faculty members were brought to the Jersey City Medical Center this afternoon when a strange odor was detected at Snyder High School in Jersey City, Journal staff writer Tom Shortell has been told at the scene.

Police believe the odor was caused by a pepper spray discharge. The students were evacuated from the school and brought to a gym next door at about 1:30 today.

Battalion Chief James Drennan said there reports of people having trouble breathing and that four students and three faculty members were hospitalized.

An update on the condition of the seven people was not immediately available.