Student releases pepper spray inside classroom at Desertaire Elementary

Firefighters responded to Desertaire Elementary School after a student released pepper spray inside a classroom, police and district officials.

A student who was in the classroom told ABC-7 that a classmate was showing off a can of pepper spray when another student grabbed it and sprayed it.

The student who spoke to reporters was exposed. He said he felt dizzy, nausea and had a stomach ache.

Police originally said the substance was tear gas, but Ysleta Independent School District officials later clarified the substance was pepper spray.

A district statement reads, “a Desertaire Elementary School student brought pepper spray on campus and discharged it inside a sixth-grade classroom. School officials notified the El Paso Police Department and El Paso Fire Department, who responded to the scene and began evaluating all 28 students in the affected classroom.”

“All affected students are being evaluated by authorities and receiving proper medical care as necessary. The Student Code of Conduct disciplinary measures will be followed,” the district said.

Its first news release stated, “In an abundance of caution, five students have been transported to the hospital for treatment.”

A district spokeswoman later clarified no students were taken to the hospital. “Parents are being given the option to take their children home or transport them to a hospital. Students in the affected portable classroom have been relocated to a different classroom for the remainder of the instructional day,” the spokeswoman said.

The school is located at 6 301 Tiger Eye in Northeast El Paso.