Teen prank results in response by Fayetteville Fire Department and UAPD

A high-school student attending summer band camp at the University of Arkansas has admitted to a prank in which he left an envelope containing an unidentified white powder in a campus residence hall.

The discovery of the envelope and its suspicious contents occurred at approximately 1 p.m. at Yocum Hall, where 220 teenagers were staying while attending the music camp. The University of Arkansas Police Department and HazMat team and the Fayetteville Fire Department were immediately called to the scene and secured the site, which is standard procedure in cases involving a potentially hazardous substance.

Forty-two campers who might have been exposed to the substance were sequestered in the Yocum Hall lobby as a precautionary measure while tests were conducted on the powder. At approximately 2:45 p.m., one of the campers confessed to the prank. The substance proved to be foot powder. No injuries were reported.

Authorities met with the teen and his parents, and the boy was issued a juvenile criminal citation. A second student has also been interviewed as part of the ongoing investigation. Both students are juveniles and their names will not be released.