NEWBERRY, S.C. -- Update:
Local police, SLED agents and the FBI on the campus of Newberry College, after officials say a prank spun out of control.
"Like a big explosion from the inside, like the floor below us, it was on the first floor, I live on the second floor, it was right in the stairwell," says Newberry student Brian Newman.
All 293 students in a Newberry dormitory, evacuated after three separate explosions since Tuesday night.
"There were two loud boom sounds, it sounded like gun shots, but it turned out to be these homemade bottle bombs," Jenna Lyons.
Lyons is a sophomore at Newberry College.
Lyons says she was alerted by e-mail about the incident, by the college's Vice President Chuck Wendt.
Wendt told students that a water bottle filled with toilet bowl disinfectant was set-off in the parking lot of Brokaw Hall around 11 P.M. Tuesday...and two more explosions after that.
The latest coming just before noon Wednesday.
"It was just some students playing a prank," says Lyons.
"This is a prank that went very very badly," says Newberry County Sheriff Lee Foster.
Foster says SLED found several of the bottles inside the dorm, and took four male students into custody for questioning.
"We will punish these students to the maximum," says Wendt.
As of Wednesday night, the students have been let back into their dorm.
Authorities say a series of explosions at a South Carolina college dormitory was the result of a student prank.
Newberry County Sheriff Lee Foster says students were evacuated from Brokaw Dormitory at Newberry College late Wednesday morning after an explosion inside the building.
Police had been on scene since Tuesday night, when a minor blast was reported in the dorm's parking lot. A second explosion was reported an hour later in the dorm's lobby.
After the third blast Wednesday, State Law Enforcement Division agents brought in dogs and a bomb robot to search the building.
Foster says the devices were made in plastic drinking water bottles using a chemical reaction from common household items.
Four people are being questioned. No injuries were reported.
Students received the following email notifying them of the incident:
At approximately 11:30 p.m. last night a squeeze bottle filled with toilet bowl disinfectant was set off in the parking lot of Brokaw Hall. At approximately 12:50 a.m. a second squeeze bottle was set off in the first floor lobby of Brokaw. Police responded to both incidents.
Student Affairs was notified and began searching the rooms. Items were found that could have contributed to the incidents.
A third squeeze bottle went off at noon today.
No one was injured. No property damage except a stain on the carpet was reported.
Authorities have responded and four students are being questioned.
In these times of heightened awareness, this is a silly prank that has no place on a college campus.
We will send out an update as soon as law enforcement clears the building for students to return to their rooms.
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