Updated at 5:30 p.m: Katy ISD is defining a zip gun as “any device altered to propel an object designed to cause harm.”
A student was taken into custody and charges are pending.
Updated at 3:00 p.m: Students from a high school in Katy ISD were released from school early after an explosive device was found on campus.
A student is in custody after a bomb squad was dispatched to Seven Lakes High School this morning after reports of a “potential explosive device” in a campus building. Some 3,000 students were safely evacuated after campus police learned of the device, and the Harris County Sheriff’s Office and FBI responded.
The district about 20 miles west of Houston says the potential explosive was later identified that a “student suspect is in custody” and did not elaborate.
Students were evacuated to an enclosed area on the baseball and football fields. They were later released for the day and after-school activities canceled.
Seven Lakes High School is just west of the Grand Parkway, about five miles south of I-10.
Updated at 1:00 p.m: Students and staff at Seven Lakes High School in the Katy Independent School District were evacuated to the football field this morning so authorities could investigate what the district is calling “a potential explosive device.”
Below is a tweet from the initial evacuation to the Seven Lakes football and baseball fields:
@KUHFNews pic.twitter.com/KVEWzLIjxi
— Geordy van Es (@GeordyVan) January 13, 2014
A suspicious backpack was found on the east side of the building near the ninth grade center.
The Harris County bomb squad and the FBI are at the scene.
Students were later moved to the Seven Lakes Junior High stadium, and are being released today at 1:30 p.m. Parents can pick up their child at Seven Lakes Junior High.
Students who drove to school and currently have the keys in their possession may leave after their car has been cleared to go. Students with car keys in the building, or bikes near the building, are not allowed to retrieve them at this time.