Reference no: EM131670673

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Information from the Portland Fire Bureau: A canister of tear gas was set off by vandals (yesterday morning - but AP Style says you should use the specific day of the week) at the Gregory Heights Middle School. Three students are being sought forquestioning. At least 48 children and two teachers were taken to a dozen Portland hospitals for treatment. The fire department was called at 9:31 a.m. A second alarm was sounded at 10:32 a.m. The problem caused no evacuation of homes in the neighborhood around the school. The school is located at Northeast 73rd Avenue and Siskiyou Street.

Students and teachers vomited and suffered a number of other problems, including aburning sensation in the lungs, nose, throat and eyes, due to the gas that apparently wasreleased in a school corridor. The school was closed for the day. The Fire Bureau began allowing staff members to return inside about noon.

From Don Mayer, spokesman for the Portland Fire Bureau: He said the trips to the hospital were precautionary. He didn't know if anyone was in serious or critical condition. "The symptoms the kids are exhibiting are consistent with Mace." He said a Mace-like container was given to investigators by a parent who said it was sold to her son on the school grounds yesterday morning. Mace is a type of tear gas. He said school officials gave investigators the names of three possible suspects. He said investigators were trying to reach those youths.

From the school Principal John Alkire: He said the substance was in the science and math hall area in the northwest corner of the school's first floor. He said the substance was odorless. "It was like walking into an irritating wall."

From Nguyen Do, an eighth grader: He was in class during the morning break. He said he and others went out in the hall and started coughing. "So I covered my mouth and ran out of the building. It's Mace. I know that. It was a set-up to get out of class or something."

From Michael Grice, spokesman for the Portland Public Schools: Students who were not affected by the fumes were sent home about 10:45 a.m. The school district sent buses to take the students home. Classes at the school will resume tomorrow [use the day of the week].

From Jessie Doty, 12, a seventh-grader: "I started coughing. It just stung my throat. My eyes watered and turned red."

From Jeff MacMillan, 12, a seventh-grader: He said he got a headache from the chemical. He said other classmates were worse off, including one girl who fainted and had to be carried from the building.

From Autumn Gierlich, 13, an eighth-grader who suffers from asthma: She was coughing and receiving oxygen shortly after the incident when you arrived at the school. You notice her waiting for an ambulance and you get these comments from her: "I got the stuff into my lungs, and I could barely breathe. I had to gasp for air. I was dizzy. Now I'm feeling better. They gave me oxygen. I coughed and coughed, and spit up phlegm."

From Richard Harder, a paramedic with the Portland Fire Bureau: He said he was one of the first to arrive. He said he saw about 15 children on the ground. Some of them had severe respiratory problems. Others were coughing, vomiting and sneezing.

From Carol Palumbo, an eighth-grade teacher: She was consoling crying students in front of the school after the evacuation. "The kids are really upset. It's just horrendous, whatever it was." From your observations and basic questions: Students were taken to an area on the front lawn of the school. They were carried by stretcher or walked to ambulances. The children were ages 12 to 15. More than a dozen ambulances were sent to the school. The school is located at Northeast 73rd Avenue and Siskiyou Street. It has more than 900 staff members and students in the 6th, 7th and 8th grades.

Based on a story by Dave Hogan and Paul Koberstein, The Oregonian. Used with permission.