YouTube Stunt? Student Injured When Pen Explodes

Classes resumed at an alternative school in North Carolina today after an explosives scare yesterday. A student took the cap off his pen and got the shock of his life when it exploded, sending fragments of the pen into his arm and chest and burning his hand. His injuries are not life-threatening. It may have been a prank gone wrong: The Charlotte Observer notes that a similar stunt has become a viral video on YouTube.

A 16-year-old student at the school and his 15-year-old brother have been arrested. Police searched their home, and neighbors reported hearing loud explosions, possibly controlled ones set off by authorities at the scene. Three firefighters were injured.
(More explosives stories.)