Two teenagers face criminal charges after they allegedly set off a pipe bomb outside Northfield Middle School last week.
Benjamin C. Suhl, 18, of Webster, was charged Wednesday in Rice County District Court with four felonies stemming from the explosion. Christopher M. Smith, 17, of Northfield, faces two felony counts in juvenile court.
Northfield police responded shortly after 8 p.m. on Jan. 18 to a report of an explosion that one neighbor said shook his house. Police found remnants of a homemade bomb that had been detonated near the school's west entrance, leaving scorch marks and blasting trim off a window.
The school district later estimated that repairing the damage would cost $3,300 to $3,600, court documents said.
No one was hurt in the blast, though some students were in the building for evening sports practices, said Northfield school Superintendent Chris Richardson. Police searched the school perimeter that evening. School officials were told of the explosion the next morning and did a more thorough check of the entire building, said Richardson, adding that he has asked police to notify administrators immediately if anything similar happens again.
Police said Smith had recently been suspended from school for a chewing tobacco violation and had bragged to classmates about the bomb.
The teens allegedly stole gunpowder and fuses from a store and then built the bomb with a copper pipe.
SARAH LEMAGIE
