Boy sprays himself with pepper spray on Fayette County school bus, 10 affected

Ten people on a Fayette County school bus were affected Tuesday afternoon when a boy sprayed himself in the face with pepper spray.

The fire department was called to Peachtree Road just after 4 p.m. for a report of respiratory problems on a middle school bus, Battalion Chief Joe Best said. Firefighters arrived to find that 10 people had been affected by pepper spray, including the driver, the bus monitor and some children.

No one needed treatment because the exposure wasn’t severe, Best said. Firefighters were on the scene for 13 minutes.

The mother of the boy who sprayed himself was called and came to the bus stop, school district spokeswoman Lisa Deffendall said. The students involved were from Edythe J Hayes Middle School, and they were riding bus 964.

Police were also called to the bus, only to assist, Lt. Andrew Daugherty said. The incident was handled by school law enforcement.

The bus had been nearly empty, and after the incident was over the bus continued on its route, Best said.

This story was originally published March 1, 2016 at 7:11 PM with the headline "Boy sprays himself with pepper spray on Fayette County school bus, 10 affected."