COLUMBIA, MO. -- Update: Friday, June 4 at 12:10 p.m.:
Eighteen students from Rock Bridge High School won't be charged for trespassing at the school because a teacher let them in.
The students were caught by police leaving the school after a prank to fill the school with 2,000 balloons went awry.
Rock Bridge High School Prinicpal Kathy Ritter said Friday the teacher let the students into the building for what was considered an "innocent prank."
There were 12 males and six female students -- all ages 17 and 18 -- arrested Thursday on suspicion of trespassing.
Columbia police spokeswoman Jessie Haden said students were arrested early Thursday after an off-duty officer saw three teenagers enter the building. When Ritter arrived, other students came out of the school and were arrested.
The school was not damaged.
Update: Thursday, June 3 at 3:04 p.m.:
A group of Rock Bridge High School seniors got a slap on the wrist after a foiled attempt at a senior prank.
The busted students said they were planning to blow up about 2,000 balloons and put them in the high school’s administrative offices.
Police caught the students shortly after 1 a.m. Thursday before they could start their prank.
Officers issued trespassing citations to 18 Rock Bridge seniors and then turned them over to school authorities.
The students did not tell authorities how they got inside the school building.
The naughty seniors will still be able to walk across the stage at this weekend’s graduation ceremonies and participate in senior activities.
“They spend a considerable amount of time thinking up pranks," Rock Bridge Principal Kathy Ritter said. "We try to help them with the difference between funny and disruptive or hurtful. We try to shift through some of the pranks. They spend a good deal of time because this has become a tradition of sorts.”
Ritter said her most memorable Rock Bridge senior prank was when some students let loose a herd of sheep in the high school during the overnight hours.
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Police issued trespassing citations to 18 Rock Bridge High School students early Thursday morning after they were caught inside the school.
Police believe they foiled an attempt at a "Senior Prank” by graduating high school students.
An off duty Columbia police officer was working as a security guard for the school when he saw students entering the school around 12:30 a.m. The officer called for on-duty officers to assist, including the K9 unit.
The officers set up a perimeter around the school and detained the teenagers as they exited the school.
In all, police caught 12 male and 6 female students, aged 17 to 18 years old.
Police called Principal Kathy Ritter to the school to help deal with the situation. Police said Ritter instructed officers to write the students tickets for trespassing.
The police department said it doesn't know what the intended prank was, but said there was no damage reported inside the school.
Police said a judge can impose a fine or probation for a trespassing citation if students decide to go to court, instead of paying the fine.
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