NEW YORK, Oct. 17 (UPI) —
More than 30 New York City students were treated by paramedics and firefighters after a pepper-spray bottle discharged in a school cafeteria, officials said.
An 11-year-old student at Junior High School 226 in the South Ozone Park section of Queens was showing the bottle to a fellow sixth-grader when it went off, the New York Daily News reported Wednesday. No one was hospitalized.
"I was coughing. It hurt. I couldn’t breathe," said Franklin Brisso, 11, who inhaled the spray.
Sally Ameer, 11, called the episode, "Stupid. Students aren’t supposed to be bringing things like that to school."
Principal Rushell White said several students were affected with "bouts of coughing and runny eyes" and were "examined by a licensed physician and released," in a letter sent home to parents.
City education officials said the incident is under investigation.