By Carol Anne Riddell
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
UPPER EAST SIDE — Four people were sent to the hospital and hundreds of students evacuated Thursday after pepper spray was released inside an Uptown school, authorities said.
The incident happened about 11 a.m. at the Academy for Environmental Science Secondary School, on E. 100th Street and First Avenue, according to the Department of Education.
Both the FDNY and Hazmat responded, locking down the school and evacuating about a thousand students.
The four victims were taken to Metropolitan Hospital, the FDNY said. Two of them were teachers, education officials said.
It's not yet exactly clear who released the pepper spray or why. Education officials said authorities were looking into the circumstances.
Outside the school, students said they were worried about those who'd been hospitalized.
Many were angered that the spray can had gone off in the first place.
"I am concerned because why would this even happen in the school?" said an 11th grader, who asked not to be identified.
Experts said reactions to pepper spray varied from person to person, but included difficulty breathing, watery eyes and coughing.
Students were allowed back into the building in the afternoon.
