A Florida teen with an exemplary record is facing federal charges after conducting what a classmate calls “a science project gone bad.”
A 16-year-old Bartow High School student was arrested Monday on allegations she detonated a bottle of explosive materials on the school grounds.
No one was hurt in the morning explosion, nor was school property damaged, said Principal Ron Pritchard.
Kiera Roslyn Wilmot, of 1370 N. Wilson Ave., Apt. 505, was charged with making, possessing or discharging a destructive device and with possessing or discharging weapons on school grounds. Both charges are felonies.
The girl told authorities she was conducting a science experiment, according to Bartow police, but science teachers at the school said they knew nothing about it. She also said she thought the materials would produce only smoke, not an explosion, police said.
Pritchard said he was standing nearby when the student left the drink bottle behind the cafeteria, near the lake on the school's east side.
"It was next to the gazebo by the lake," he said. "I wasn't standing too far away when it happened. I just heard the pop, and I turned around. I thought it was a firecracker at first."
Household materials were used to create the explosion, said Bartow police Lt. Gary McLin. He declined to say what those materials were, but said the information is available through the Internet.
Pritchard said the girl didn't leave the area after the bottle exploded.
"She left it on the ground, and she stayed there," he said. "We went over to where she was. She saw that we saw her, so she didn't take off."
He said she was taken to the school's office, where police took her into custody.
The explosion occurred about 7 a.m., about the time classes started.
"There weren't a lot of kids there," Pritchard said. "There were maybe half a dozen kids in the area where she was, and nobody was hurt by it."
Wilmot was transported to the county's Juvenile Assessment Center in Bartow following her arrest.