Bullets sent to New York school in severe shipping error, superintendent says
MANORVILLE, NY - A New York school teacher found bullets inside a box with new classroom supplies after a vendor made "a severe packaging and shipping error," according to the district.
Box of bullets mistakenly shipped to school
What we know:
A teacher at Eastport South Manor Junior-Senior High School found the bullets while unpacking newly-delivered classroom supplies Tuesday morning.
"While checking the inventory from Blick Art Materials, the teacher came across a separate, sealed box inside the shipment. Upon opening this inner box, the teacher discovered that it contained a box of bullets," Superintendent Joseph A. Steimel wrote in a letter to parents that was obtained by FOX 5 NY.
"A severe packaging and shipping error"
What they're saying:
The teacher immediately notified school security and the Suffolk County Police Department was called to take possession of the bullets, according to Steimel.
"Based on the preliminary investigation, it is clear that this was a severe packaging and shipping error made by the external vendor or distributor as the label for the smaller box was to be shipped to a sports store in Louisiana," he wrote. "The District will be making contact with the supplier, to investigate exactly how this logistical error occurred and to ensure it does not happen again."
No students were in the classroom at the time, and no staff members were in any danger, Steimel added.
The other side:
After FOX 5 NY reached out for a statement, Blick Art Materials released the following on its website:
"We were informed yesterday that an unopened box of ammunition, shipped from a company in Louisiana to a sporting goods store in New York, was mistakenly intermingled with one of our shipments to a school in Manorville, New York. The sporting goods store is not a Blick customer, and the ammunition supplier in Louisiana is not a Blick vendor. Blick Art Materials does not sell, store, or package ammunition in its facilities.
We have turned the information over to our freight carrier, which is in the process of investigating the error. Occasionally shipments get mixed up in transit, and this is by far the most likely explanation. We will continue to research all possible angles to minimize the chance that anything like this will happen again."
What we don't know:
It's unclear how the bullets wound up in the shipment to the school.
The Source: This story is based on a letter from Eastport-South Manor Central School District Superintendent Joseph A. Steimel that was obtained by FOX 5 NY.