A pepper spray may have been the cause of an exposure incident Wednesday at a San Jose high school, the school district's superintendent said.
San Jose firefighters responded to an incident at Oak Grove High School Wednesday afternoon, possible involving some sort of exposure, where several students and a teacher were treated for breathing problems, according to fire officials.
At least 11 students and one teacher were treated after they developed teary eyes and itchiness from a foreign odor inside a biology classroom, officials said.
One student was transported to the hospital due to tightness of breath. Other students who were in the room and left the campus were asked to return for evaluation.
School district Superintendent Chris Funk said in a statement "At first there was concern that there might be a gas leak. There is no evidence of a gas leak. It is believed to have been pepper spray."
Parents were worried for their children's safety because they didn't know what occured inside that classroom.
"As a parent it makes me nervous when you see things like this becasue of all the shootisn that are going on, so that's what I thought. Thank God, there's no shooting," Danielle Soden told NBC Bay Area.
Local
Aerial views of the incident showed multiple emergency vehicles at the scene and people being treated in a cordoned off area. At least two patients were seen being loaded onto gurneys and exposed students were hosed down for decontamination.
NBC Bay Area's Scott Budman contributed to this report.
