No one hurt in bus stop blast

Three middle school students face felony charges.

By ABBIE VANSICKLE and RODNEY THRASH, Times Staff Writers
Published September 19, 2007

TAMPA - Phyllis Darity was inside her home at 8 a.m. when she heard the explosion.

Her daughter, 11-year-old Tiffany Napoli, was waiting at the bus stop.

"I'm talking to another mother and I just hear this horrific boom," Darity said. "I actually thought it was a car careening out of control and running into a house. I heard kids scream, 'Oh my God! Oh my God!'"

Three middle school students are facing felony explosives charges, accused of bringing homemade acid bombs to a school bus stop and detonating one.

Deputies say the students - two age 11 and one age 12 - brought two 20-ounce water bottles filled with a cocktail that appeared to be acid, aluminum foil and other materials to a bus stop Tuesday morning in northwest Hillsborough County.

One acid bomb began to detonate, and the students threw it in a storm sewer, where it exploded, said sheriff's spokesman J.D. Callaway. That's when the students dropped the second one and ran, Callaway said.

By then, Darity had run out of her house and reached the bus stop and the kids. She grabbed her daughter's cell phone and called 911. The police came, then the bomb squad. There were five other children at the bus stop. No one was injured in the incident, but investigators and school officials say the students' actions were disconcerting and dangerous.

"Homemade acid bombs can be incredibly volatile," Callaway said. "We typically find these types of homemade devices, placed inside a mail box, it can blow it up completely. ... The potential for injury was great with these things."

The students have been suspended from Walker Middle School, said Hillsborough schools spokesman Stephen Hegarty. Two are in sixth grade, one in seventh. School officials have recommended expulsion.

News researcher John Martin contributed to this report. Abbie VanSickle can be reached at 813 226-3373 or vansickle@sptimes.com.

[Last modified September 18, 2007, 23:51:57]