Student’s ‘radioactive rock’ prompts hazmat response at high school, Oklahoma cops say
A hazardous materials team responded to an Oklahoma high school after it was reported that a student brought in a “radioactive rock,” authorities said.
Police and fire crews responded at about 10 a.m. Sept. 23 to Owasso High School East Campus to a report of a “potential hazardous materials incident,” according to a news release from the Owasso Police Department.
Authorities learned that the rock had been handled by multiple students inside the building, police said.
Police said the “language and jargon” used by the student who brought in the rock made it “obvious” they were knowledgeable about radioactivity.
The immediate area around the rock was cleared, and the Tulsa Fire Department hazmat unit was called in for testing, police said.
The rock generated a “slight reading of radioactivity” but nothing more than the average person might encounter on a daily basis, authorities said.
The Oklahoma Highway Patrol Bomb Unit took the rock to safely dispose of it, and the area was deemed safe, police said.
Authorities cautioned that while legal “radioactive rocks” are available for purchase online, students should not bring them into school without talking to their teachers.
Owasso is about a 15-mile drive northeast from Tulsa.
