More than 30 Ga. students hospitalized after being exposed to pepper spray on school bus

TIFTON, Ga. — Over 30 middle and high students were hospitalized after mace was sprayed on a Georgia school bus.

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The incident happened Tuesday morning.

The Tift County School and the Tifton Police Department began investigating after a chemical was released on a school bus with 35 students onboard.

School authorities confirmed the chemical to be pepper spray.

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Beverly McClain whose daughter is a freshman in high school told WALB-TV her daughter was one of the many kids taken to the hospital to be examined.

“From what I understand, it was a middle school student that sprayed the mace. I’m not sure why, but my daughter was the second group to get on the bus. They had already taken the middle school students to school, and then the second group was the high school. But I guess some of the residue or whatever you want to call it was still on the bus,” Beverly McClain told WALB-TV.

McClain told WALB-TV that the school system immediately notified parents and they reacted in the best way possible.

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In a statement posted to their Facebook, Tift County Schools stated they “...are still investigating the cause of the incident. We would like to thank the local EMS and Tift Regional Medical Center for their assistance in ensuring the safety and security of our students.

According to school officials, all students were evaluated and released from Tift Regional Medical Center.

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