Three first-graders at an Alaska charter school have been suspended for allegedly plotting to poison a classmate.
Three female students at Winterberry Charter School in Anchorage allegedly planned to use silica gel packets — commonly found in pre-packaged food and medicine bottles to keep moisture away — "from their lunchtime seaweed to poison and kill another student," the school's principal wrote in an email to parents.
The scheme was foiled when another student heard about the "poison packets" and alerted administrators, Jennifer Castro, spokeswoman for the Anchorage Police Department, told NBC News. No charges were filed.
While silica gel is non-toxic, the tiny beads of which it is comprised can get lodged in the throat and pose a choking hazard, especially to young children, according to the Carolinas Poison Center.
