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Wilkinsburg HS evacuated after student pours gasoline on security guard

PITTSBURGH — A suspended student poured gasoline from a soda container onto a school security guard on Monday when she was denied entrance to Wilkinsburg High School, police and school officials said. Classes were later dismissed as the smell of gas permeated the school.

Wilkinsburg police Chief Ophelia Coleman said the girl was taken to the police station, but investigators were waiting for her family to arrive so they could interview her.

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Police and Wilkinsburg School District officials did not release the girl's name, age or grade, though school board President Ed Donovan told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that she was suspended on Friday after an unspecified incident.

The girl came to school anyway on Monday and poured the gasoline on the guard and the floor after she was denied entry, Donovan said. He described the container as a soda can though Pete Camarda, the district spokesman, later said it was a bottle.

The girl did not attempt to light the fuel, Camarda said.

A student's parent and several students told Channel 11's Brandon Hudson that the incident happened at the school's check-in.

Brandon Murray, the security guard, told Hudson that the gasoline was in his mouth and on his clothes.

“It was thrown in my face, and it got into my mouth, and it’s on my clothes. That was enough that I really wanted to go hands-on with her. But the fact is, I don’t want to lose my job, so she was restrained the way she was supposed to be restrained,” he said.

Murray claimed the girl appeared angry when she arrived at the school and threatened to throw gas on him.

"She was rude when she came in this morning - banging on the door,” he said. "She made the threat to throw gas on me. My exact words were, ‘If you do, we're going to have a problem.’”

Murray said moments later, other security guards restrained the teenager, who, he said, was carrying a grill lighter.

"She couldn't strike and actually light us. She made an attempt, but it was knocked out of her hand,” he said.

Murray said he had a run-in with the student after school Friday.

"The first time, she threw milk on me after school,” he said.

Students at the seventh- through 12th-grade school in Pittsburgh's eastern suburbs were initially evacuated to a nearby community center, then dismissed so their parents and guardians could take them home, Camarda said.

Coleman said the girl could face criminal charges, but he could not release details until investigators interview her. Police planned to release a statement later Monday, the chief said.

Meanwhile, Murray said that while he plans to continue to report to his job at the school, he is looking at a lawsuit against the student.

"Like I told the school district, I'm pressing charges. Nobody else has to. I'll be at every court appearance she has, because she's a threat,” he said.

Murray said he also wants to see changes in place to make sure a similar incident never happens. He suggested that outside food and drink should not be allowed inside the school.

The acting superintendent told Hudson that he met with teachers and staff on a host of issues Monday afternoon, but he did not give specifics.

The impoverished school district last week announced a plan to close Wilkinsburg's secondary school because of declining enrollment. Under the plan, 200 or so Wilkinsburg students will be sent to an underperforming Pittsburgh school next school year, Pittsburgh Westinghouse Academy, which has roughly 400 sixth- through 12th-grade students.

Both school boards must still approve the plan.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

WPXI

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