New Mexico district to discipline worker who took fake explosive device to elementary school
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A southern New Mexico school district says it'll be taking disciplinary action against an employee who took a fake bomb to an elementary school for training purposes, leading to an evacuation of the school.
A Gadsden Independent School District worker took the mock bomb to a school on Monday, district spokesman Louis Villalobos told the Las Cruces Sun-News (http://bit.ly/1g7ObwL ).
"Apparently this individual took it upon himself to create a (fake) explosive device apparently for some sort of training purpose but there's no training scheduled," Villalobos said.
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The principal contacted authorities after learning of the mock bomb, which consisted of an alarm clock fastened to a box containing several sticks of fake dynamite. The school was evacuated while an FBI team inspected and removed the mock explosive device.
Villabobos said the employee is an instructional assistant, a former law enforcement officer and a member of the school's emergency response team.
The school district is headquartered in Sunland Park, which is located south of Las Cruces and north of El Paso, Texas.
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Villalobos did not specify how the worker would be disciplined and did not immediately return a call Tuesday.
Kelly Jameson, a spokeswoman for the Dona Ana County Sheriff's Office, said the worker will not be prosecuted because there was no intent to break a law or incite a disturbance at the school.
The worker had good intentions and now knows he shouldn't have taken the device to school without arranging it in advance, Jameson said.
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"You just can't do things like that at a school these days," Jameson said.