REDMOND, Wash. — A plastic soda bottle exploded early Monday in a Redmond elementary school parking lot, injuring a school bus driver, officials said.
There were only about 25 to 30 students at Emily Dickinson Elementary School when the blast happened at about 7:30 a.m., said Kathryn Reith, a Lake Washington School District spokeswoman. Those students were taking part in an early morning orchestra practice and were well away from the blast area, she said.
Two buses were in the parking lot.
One driver was walking toward the other bus when the bottle bomb went off, Reith said. The driver appeared to suffer minor wounds from plastic shrapnel and was taken to a hospital.
King County sheriff’s Sgt. DB Gates said the device was an acid bomb, commonly made by juveniles with household chemicals.
A second person was taken to a hospital as a precaution for exposure to chemicals from the 2-liter bottle, Gates said.
It was unclear why the bottle was in the parking lot or why it exploded as the bus driver walked by, Reith said.
The elementary school was closed for the day.
Deputies also searched nearby Evergreen Middle School.
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