Police: Science project sparks evacuation at Hewlett H.S.

An officer on the scene saw what appeared to be a pressure cooker with something coming out of it within the common area of the school, police say.

News 12 Staff

•

Jun 9, 2017, 7:11 PM

•

Updated 2,751 days ago

Police say Hewlett High School was evacuated after a suspicious device, which turned out to be a science project, was found by a school employee.

Heavily armed police and the bomb squad were called in after a school employee found the device. An officer on the scene saw what appeared to be a pressure cooker with something coming out of it within the common area of the school, police say.

The building was immediately evacuated and the students were brought to a back field.

Authorities determined the pressure cooker to be safe, police say. They also confirmed with the school that the pressure cooker was part of a previous science project.

Today was “locker cleanout day” at the school, according to officials, and they are not sure if the project was left there intentionally to scare people or just to be discarded.

Police are looking at school security cameras to see who placed it.