Breaking : Loudoun Officials Meet with CIA Regarding Discovery of Explosive Training Material
On March 31, 2016, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) confirmed that an explosive training material was inadvertently left in a Loudoun County Public Schools bus at Briar Woods High School. The CIA statement can be viewed here:
In response to the incident, the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office and the Loudoun County Fire Marshal's announced that this particular training program has been suspended until a thorough review of all procedures is completed.
During a joint meeting on March 31, 2016, representatives from the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office, the Loudoun County Fire Marshal's Office, the Loudoun County Public Schools' Safety and Security Office, and the Office of the County Administrator met with personnel from the CIA to discuss a recent K9 training exercise where benign explosive training material was determined to have been left inside a Loudoun County Public School bus. Both the Loudoun County Fire Marshal's Office and the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office, in cooperation with the Loudoun County Public School System, are recipients of the CIA K9 training.
On March 30, 2016, the training material was located inside the engine compartment of a Loudoun County Public School bus during routine maintenance work. Personnel from the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office and the Loudoun County Fire Marshal's Office responded to the Loudoun County Vehicle Maintenance Facility on Loudoun Center Place in Leesburg, Va. to determine the source of the materials.
The material was determined to have been used during a recent joint canine training led by the CIA at Briar Woods High School in Ashburn, Va. during the week of Spring Break (March 21-March 24). Similar training is conducted with other local public safety and federal agencies in the region throughout the year.
As part of the training exercise last week, canine explosive detection training was conducted in areas inside and outside of the high school.
During the outside portion of the training, the training material was hidden inside an engine compartment of the bus. At some point, a portion of the material from the container appears to have been dislodged from the container and fell into the engine compartment of the bus and was not recovered following the training.
According to Loudoun County Public School officials, the bus was in service on Monday and Tuesday, serving Rock Ridge High School, and Buffalo Trail and Pinebrook Elementary schools.
Parents of students who might have ridden the bus while the training material was on board were contacted on March 30.
The training materials used in the exercises are incredibly stable and according to the CIA and Loudoun County explosive experts the students on the bus were not in any danger from the training material.
As a precaution, all buses that were used or were near the training exercise at the Briar Woods High School were further searched and nothing was found.
Members of the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office, the Loudoun County Fire Marshal's Office, the Loudoun County Public Schools' Safety and Security Office, the Office of the County Administrator and the CIA continue to review the incident.
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