Police: Teens Strapped Model Rocket To Skateboard Before Deadly Blast

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. (AP) -Authorities say two Southern California high school students attached a homemade model rocket to a skateboard before it exploded and killed one of the teens.

The blast Monday in the courtyard of a Ventura County elementary school killed 18-year-old Bernard Moon of Thousand Oaks. His 17-year-old friend was injured and is in stable condition.

The two senior honor students apparently were experimenting with "some sort of chemical combination" before the accidental blast Monday evening in the courtyard of an elementary school in their neighborhood, said sheriff's Capt. Garo Kuredjian. He said the fuel was not propane, as officials initially reported.

Investigators hoped to determine what chemicals were used as well as the size and shape of the rocket that blew apart, Kuredjian said.

Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts were meeting at Madrona Elementary in Thousand Oaks when the school suddenly shook from the blast.

"Nobody could really discern what it really was because it was a huge explosion. It was just all at once. Just a 'boom!'" Tammy Coburn, who was attending the meeting, told reporters.

The experiment wasn't sanctioned by any school, and the victims likely were using the courtyard because it's an open space, Kuredjian said. Classes at the elementary school northwest of Los Angeles were canceled Tuesday.

The county coroner's office identified the man who died as Bernard Moon of Thousand Oaks. An autopsy was planned. The injured boy was not named.

Both were seniors at nearby Thousand Oaks High School.

"They're ... honor students. Amazing, brilliant kids," Coburn said.

Copyright 2016 The Associated Press.