CIA personnel left “explosive training material” under the hood of a Loudoun County, Virginia school bus after performing training exercises using the school bus last week. That very same bus was then used to shuttle elementary and high school students to and from school on the following Monday and Tuesday with that explosive material still inside the engine compartment.
CIA says the material was ‘harmless.’ Whatever, shit happens, right?
The CIA and Loudoun County officials released statements today on the matter.
The material was determined to have been used during a recent joint canine training led by the CIA at Briar Woods High School in Ashburn, Va. during the week of Spring Break (March 21-March 24). Similar training is conducted with other local public safety and federal agencies in the region throughout the year.
As part of the training exercise last week, canine explosive detection training was conducted in areas inside and outside of the high school. During the outside portion of the training, the training material was hidden inside an engine compartment of the bus. At some point, a portion of the material from the container appears to have been dislodged from the container and fell into the engine compartment of the bus and was not recovered following the training.
Oops.
The Washington Post has a report:
The Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office and the CIA said in statements Thursday that the explosive material was left behind after a training exercise at Briar Woods High School during spring break. The CIA said it was a training scenario for explosives-detecting dogs.
CIA officials said in a statement that the material “did not pose a danger to passengers on the bus,” which was used on March 28 and 29. Authorities held a joint training program at Briar Woods from March 21 to 24.
Loudoun schools spokesman Wayde Byard said the CIA indicated the nature of the material but asked the school system not to disclose it. Byard described it as a “putty-type” material designed for use on the battlefield and which requires a special detonator; such putty, or plastic, explosives — including the well-known C-4 — are used in demolition and are considered stable.
Officials said they checked all other buses at the school as a precaution.
“CIA left explosive material on Loudoun school bus after training exercise” [washingtonpost.com, via @emmersbrown]
“Loudoun Officials Meet with CIA Regarding Discovery of Explosive Training Material” [loudoun.gov]