Fire cracker blast sends Pine Island schools into temporary lockdown

A noisy firecracker put Pine Island school officials into emergency mode for about an hour Tuesday.

Pine Island School District Supt. Chris Bates said two workers reported hearing what they thought was a gunshot at 8:30 a.m. in the school's parking lot. The school went into an exterior lockdown while Goodhue County sheriff's deputies investigated the report.

He said it became "fairly obvious" after reviewing surveillance footage that the sound was not a gunshot, but rather the explosion of what Bates called "a large firecracker."

The lockdown was lifted about an hour later, he said.

"It was a storm in a teacup," Bates said, calling the incident "a student prank."

Still, he said, "We took the information very seriously as I think we have to."

He said the school was taking "appropriate measures" against students responsible for the firecracker blast, but said no arrests were made.

The people who reported the noise were about a half-block away working on a warming house damaged by the summer floods, Bates said.

Tags: pine island, news, communities, crime, education