He pushed a button and Socastee students started coughing

Several students at Socastee High School started coughing when another student released mace in the classroom on Tuesday.

Horry County police were called at about noon to the school on Socastee Boulevard, and spoke with a staff member who told them a teacher had called to report a student spraying mace inside the classroom, according to a police report.

Police and school administration went to the classroom where all students had been relocated.

Authorities discovered that an 18-year-old male student grabbed another student’s keys and began playing with what he told police was an unknown object. The 18-year-old student pressed a button, which sprayed the burning liquid into the air, police said.

The teacher moved all the students to a different classroom after some began coughing, according to the report.

The 18-year-old student was issued a courtesy summons for disturbing schools, the report states.