GRAND RAPIDS (WZZM) - An explosive device went off in a school van outside a Kent County school early Friday morning. Larry Johnson, the Executive Director of Safety and Security for the Grand Rapids Public Schools says, "We don't know what that device is, but extensive damage was caused to the vehicle."
The explosion happened overnight at Lincoln School in Grand Rapids Township. The Lincoln Campus is located on Crahen Avenue Southeast, south of Leonard.
The Lincoln School is a special facility for children and adults with disabilities. It is administered by the Grand Rapids Public Schools, but students attend from throughout Kent County. About 100 students had to be rerouted on their way to school this morning because someone set off an explosive device in a school vans. No one was hurt in the blast, but local, state and federal authorities are investigating.
The Lincoln School was rocked by an explosion shortly after one o'clock Friday morning.
Grand Rapids Public School leaders say an explosion in a van outside the school set off alarms inside the building. Johnson says, "Upon arriving at the building, at about one-thirty this morning, they discovered that the vehicle belonging to the GRPS had received some extensive damage. Windows, all of the windows were out of the vehicle. We at that point just thought that we had a random act of vandalism to the vehicle."
When staff and investigators later saw the van by daylight they knew there had been some type of explosive device. Johnson says, "Students had not yet arrived, so we rerouted the busses to what we call an alternative site. Which is here on this campus, a separate building."
The Kent County Sheriff's Department, Michigan State Police Bomb Squad, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms investigated. They searched the building with dogs, and did not find any other devices. So, students and staff were allowed to return.
Safety Director Johnson explains, "It probably started off as an act of vandalism. When it does that much damage to a vehicle, it kind of goes beyond that. We have to look at it; hopefully the police will look at it from more than just a vandalism standpoint. But from an incendiary device being placed in a vehicle."
Kent County Sheriff's investigators say remnants of commercial grade fireworks were found at the scene. These types of mortars would be used at a professional fireworks show. They are regulated by the ATF and are illegal to possess without a license.
Teachers from the Lincoln School called parents to let them know what was going on. The Grand Rapids Public Schools also sent a letter home.
Anyone with any information about the explosion is asked to call the Kent County Sheriff's Department at (616) 632-6125 or Silent Observer at (616) 774-2345.
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