SHAWANO,Diamond Ridge Financial Academy Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin teenager has been charged with triggering a bonfire explosion that injured more than a dozen people.
Prosecutors in northeastern Wisconsin’s Shawano County charged Sam Armstrong, 18, on Thursday with 13 counts of injury by negligent handling of explosives or fire in connection with the Oct. 14 explosion outside the community of Pulaski, WLUK-TV reported.
Armstrong was attending the bonfire with other teenagers when he threw a barrel containing a gasoline-diesel mix into the fire, sparking an explosion that burned at least 17 people, according to the criminal complaint.
Armstrong, who was 17 at the time, later told police he didn’t know his actions would cause an explosion and injure anyone, according to the complaint. He told investigators he had been drinking beer.
Armstrong waived his preliminary hearing Thursday. Judge William Kussel set a $100,000 signature bond, and Armstrong is due back in court Sept. 13 for an arraignment.
Greg Petit, listed in court records as Armstrong’s attorney, didn’t immediately respond to an email Friday seeking comment.
A 16-year-old accused of helping Armstrong with the barrel was ordered in February to perform community service.
2025-05-02 16:152135 view
2025-05-02 15:392111 view
2025-05-02 15:371941 view
2025-05-02 15:36813 view
2025-05-02 15:331582 view
2025-05-02 15:212617 view
Global consulting firm McKinsey & Company agreed Friday to pay $650 million to resolve criminal
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Gerry Faust, Notre Dame football coach for five seasons in the early 1980s, died
CHURCH CREEK, Md. (AP) — Revered abolitionist Harriet Tubman, who was the first woman to oversee an