SANTA ROSA BEACH — A bomb squad was called to a local elementary school Monday morning after a student brought a silver-painted grenade to class for show and tell.
The bomb squad confirmed what Bay Elementary School officials suspected — the grenade wasn’t live, according to Wendy Ammons with the Walton County Sheriff’s Office.
“The grenade had a huge hole in the bottom of it,” said Carlene Anderson, Walton County superintendent. “The school resource officer examined it and thought it was best we brought in experts.
“We do have to take all precautions and do it right by the book,” she said.
The second-grader had bought the grenade when he went to a gun show over the weekend with his parents.
They told him not to bring it to school, Anderson said.
After the boy showed his teacher, the principal was called to the classroom. She called the resource officer, who put the device in a Dumpster more than 50 feet from the building.
All outside activities were halted, although students were not evacuated. After examining the device, regular school activities resumed and the bomb squad took possession of the young boy’s grenade.
Dianne Hicks, Bay Elementary principal, said this is the first time since she’s been principal that an incident like this has occurred.
Anderson said the incident will not bring about any policy changes.
“We had a student who went against his parents’ wishes. It’s a one-time thing,” Anderson said.
“You don’t want to take a bucket of water to blow out a match. We’re not going to overreact.”
Contact Daily News Staff Writer Angel McCurdy at 850-315-4432 or amccurdy@nwfdailynews.com. Follow her on Twitter @AngelMnwfdn.