Three nine-year-old fourth graders from upstate New York plotted to kill their "mean" teacher with hand sanitizer in December.
A police report in Elba, located twn between Buffalo and Rochester, said the three students threatened to spread hand sanitizer around the classroom to kill their teacher before winter break, the New York Daily News reported.
The Elba Central Elementary School teacher had previously banned hand sanitizer from the classroom because she is highly allergic to it. The three students, whose names have not been released, told their fellow students about their plans. One student informed his/her parents about the plot, and they referred it to the school board.
The Genessee County Sheriff's Department interviewed the students suspected of the plot and concluded that their sole motive could be traced to their belief that the teacher was mean, according to the Daily Mail.
The three students supposedly contradicted themselves during the interviews, and the school decided to take matters into their own hands.
"It's not a crime to think about hurting someone," said Chief Deputy Jerome Brewster of Genessee County Sheriff's Department. "It only becomes a crime when you take action on that thought."
Brewster said the plot seemed to be "idle chatter," and they had not charged any of the students with a crime, The New York Daily News said.
The school suspended two students, but the school board said they could not release any more information regarding the incident due to the students' right to privacy.
