Three teenagers were hospitalized in good condition after being sprayed with a chemical irritant inside a Washington Heights school, Chicago police said. The group included a 13-year-old boy and two 17-year-old girls, all of whom were taken to hospitals following the incident at CICS Loomis-Longwood on West 95th Street.
Police said no further information about the incident was immediately available, according to ABC7 Chicago. The station reported that all three teens were sprayed with the irritant and were taken to hospitals in good condition, though details on how the exposure occurred were not released. CICS Loomis-Longwood is a public charter school located at 1309 W. 95th St. in Washington Heights, per Block Club Chicago.
No arrests or citations were mentioned in the available reporting, and the circumstances behind the spraying remain unclear. The station's report did not identify who may have discharged the irritant or whether school staff were involved in the response.
Part of a Wider Pattern at Chicago-Area Schools
This is not the first time a Chicago-area school has dealt with a chemical irritant exposure this year. In April, eight students were hospitalized after a student used pepper spray during a fight at South Shore International College Prep High School, with the spray affecting 10 students overall, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. Eight of those students were taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center in good condition, the paper reported.
Other recent incidents have been even larger in scale. NBC 5 Investigates found that 95 elementary and high school students and three adults were injured or affected across 10 separate pepper-spray or aerosol incidents in Chicago and the suburbs over a five-week span, according to the station's reporting. Among those cases: at least 14 students at Gresham Elementary School were hospitalized after a juvenile allegedly discharged pepper spray, two students at Morgan Park High School were hospitalized after a similar incident, and 11 children and one adult were hospitalized after pepper spray was discharged at Hanson Park Elementary School, all per the same NBC 5 account.
A separate incident at Chicago Tech Academy High School, located at 1301 W. 14th St., involved a female who police said entered the school around 11:45 a.m. and sprayed a chemical irritant at a group of eight teenage females between the ages of 15 and 19, according to CBS News Chicago. Police said the teenagers declined medical attention while a 27-year-old woman was taken to a hospital in fair condition with minor injuries; Chicago Fire Department officials, however, said two students were taken to hospitals in good condition, a discrepancy the outlet did not resolve.
District Response and Security Measures
Chicago Public Schools has said the district supports schools affected by pepper-spray incidents by pairing enhanced security measures with restorative interventions, according to NBC 5's reporting. The district also said no serious injuries had been sustained in the incidents it described. Separately, Block Club Chicago reported that the Police Department has increased police presence at some schools amid broader safety concerns.
No connection has been established between Wednesday's incident at CICS Loomis-Longwood and any prior safety concerns at the school, and police have not released additional details about what led to the exposure. Hoodline will update this story as more information becomes available.
