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Initial charges filed in MMS grenade incident

Sports reporter

Four Marion Middle School students appeared in Eighth Judicial District Court with their families Monday for an initial hearing related to charges stemming from the discovery of a practice hand grenade in a student locker Feb. 15.

"We had a first appearance yesterday, and they have an arraignment on March 26," said Marion County Attorney Susan Robson.

The discovery forced the evacuation of the middle school and imposed a three-hour lock down, as local and state authorities, as well as a Fort Riley munitions disposal unit, dealt with the incident.

Robson said the youths have been charged initially with criminal threat and attempted intimidation of a witness, but indicated those charges may be amended.

"There are still a couple of things the Marion Police Department is getting for me," Robson said.

Marion-Florence USD 408 superintendent Lee Leiker, interviewed Tuesday morning, said the district's investigation of the incident is moving ahead slowly.

"Part of our plan is to be able to interview the people involved," said Leiker. "All the students have legal representatives, and they haven't wanted us to talk to them yet."

When asked if the district has developed a formal plan for proceeding with their investigation, Leiker replied, "No, we really haven't. I think that will unfold for us as we get in to it."

Leiker noted that he has not received any reactions or feedback from district patrons about the grenade incident.

"I think they probably know we're going to deal with it, and it simply takes a little time to deal with something like this," Leiker said.

Officials at Fort Riley, who deployed two soldiers from the 744th Explosive Ordnance Disposal Company (EODC) to contain and remove the grenade, provided the Marion County Record with additional information concerning the device.

According to information provided by Alison Kohler, Fort Riley media relations office, the device was an inactive practice grenade from either the Korean War or early Vietnam War eras.

"It was not an explosive grenade, and there was no charge to it," Kohler's written release said.

Kohler said the EODC commander indicated the grenade was something many people have as souvenirs. The practice grenade from the incident was added to Fort Riley's training inventory.

While not at liberty to disclose specifics, Kohler confirmed that this was not the first time EODC has responded to an incident at a public school, but noted it was not a common occurrence.

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