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Pepper Spray Incident at a Harlem High School Sends Students to Hospital

What to Know

  • 5 students at a Harlem high school were taken to a nearby hospital following reports of a pepper spray incident inside the main building
  • The events unfolded inside the A. Randolph Phillip High School at around noon Friday
  • There is no confirmation as to who might have released the pepper spray inside the school, but the investigation is ongoing

At least five students at a Harlem high school were taken to a nearby hospital following reports of a pepper spray incident inside the main building.

The events unfolded inside the A. Randolph Phillip High School at around noon Friday.

Jose Ureña, a high school senior, explained his throat started to itch while he was inside his seventh-floor classroom reading.

"I was reading and then my throat started to itch, opened the window, get some air in," he said. "And then someone asked me, "Are you good?" but they they started coughing, too. The whole room started coughing."

Students with irritated eyes and shortness of breath were treated at the scene.

"It feeks kuje a chemical burn," Ureña said. "It would help just to not breathe."

The incident prompted part of the school to be evacuated. Concerned parents arrived at the school to pick up there children.

There is no confirmation as to who might have released the pepper spray inside the school, but the investigation is ongoing. 

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