A Texas high school student sent six of his peers to the hospital this week after deploying an intensely putrid “fart spray,” fire officials announced Friday.
The student fessed up to the foul prank after fire officials and hazardous response teams spent three days investigating reports of “a smell of gas” at Caney Creek High School, located roughly 45 miles north of Houston.
“A student confessed to bringing a highly concentrated, prank, stink spray called Hensgaukt Fart Spray,” the Caney Creek Fire & Rescue squad said.
The odor was initially detected Wednesday, prompting a swift evacuation of all students.
First responders scoured the building with gas detection equipment but were unable to locate any signs of leaks, fire officials said.
Students returned to class the following day in spite of the lingering odor.
That day, six students were hospitalized after suffering severe headaches from the smell, Caney Creek Fire Chief Raymond Flannelly told KHOU-11. At least eight others reported feeling ill.
The school was forced to shut down classes for the remainder of the week, despite fire officials confirming the safety of the air quality in the building.
The trickster finally confessed Friday to using the fart spray, advertised as a gag toy that “creates a smell like real poo and fake vomit.”
The teenager likely wasn’t acting alone, school administrators theorize.
In an email obtained by PEOPLE, Caney Creek High School Principal Jeff Stichler promised parents the school district is working with the District Attorney’s Office and “will address it to the fullest extent of the Student Code of Conduct and the laws of the State of Texas.”
