GRANBURY, Texas — A Texas middle school teacher resigned and is under criminal investigation after a science experiment went awry and left a student with third-degree burns, authorities said.
The incident happened Friday at Granbury Middle School, according to Granbury police Lt. Russell Grizzard. The 37-year-old teacher, whose name was not released by authorities or school officials, put hand sanitizer on the hands of a 12-year-old boy and lit it on fire, the Dallas Morning News reported.
Grizzard said the idea behind the experiment was to show how quickly the alcohol in the sanitizer would burn, KDFW-TV reported.
Granbury Middle School teacher resigns after science experiment gives student 3rd-degree burns https://t.co/vgZ01t3lYx
— Dallas Morning News (@dallasnews) April 6, 2022
“They had done it multiple times with other students throughout the day without incident,” Grizzard.
The Granbury Independent School District said in a statement on Twitter that the teacher is “no longer an employee of the school district.
“Campus officials have turned this matter over to law enforcement/proper authorities,” the statement read.
Granbury is located about 50 miles southwest of the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
Update….
— Granbury ISD (@granburyisd) April 5, 2022
A GMS teacher has resigned and is no longer an employee of the school district. This follows a student injury on Friday during a science class experiment. Campus officials have turned this matter over to law enforcement/proper authorities for further investigation.
Grizzard said investigators have interviewed several students and are reviewing a possible video of the incident that is circulating on social media, KXAS-TV reported.
Grizzard said the teacher could be charged with injury to a child, but he said the district attorney’s office in Hood County could send the case to the grand jury for review, according to the television station.
“My first thought was that it definitely sounded irresponsible,” Grizzard told KXAS. “But you know, again, whether it’s criminal or not is not up to us to decide. That’s going to be the DA’s office that decides that.”
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