Trending Topics

Conn. students arrested for TikTok ‘Chromebook Challenge’ fire

Two Southington High School students were arrested after setting a laptop on fire, prompting criminal charges and raising concerns about the viral trend’s growing risks in schools

By Christine Dempsey
Journal Inquirer

SOUTHINGTON, Conn. — Two students at Southington High School have been arrested after they set a laptop on fire in class last week as part of the so-called TikTok Chromebook challenge, police said.

A staff member threw the smoking laptop out the second-floor window of Southington High School on May 7, Assistant Fire Chief Scott Lee said. No one was injured.

The juveniles, who are sophomores, were each charged with reckless burning, reckless endangerment, criminal mischief and second-degree breach of peace, Southington police Lt. Matthew Hammell said in a news release Wednesday afternoon. They are scheduled to appear in juvenile court Thursday, he said.

Hammell said the investigation showed that the students “stuck objects into the laptop, which caused the laptop to catch fire.” Besides the laptop, no other school property was damaged, he said.

The incident is one of several across the state and nation that officials suspect was prompted by the TikTok challenge.

The next day, in Plainville, a student was taken to the hospital after inhaling smoke from a burning laptop after a middle school student stuck scissors into the device, police in that town said.

Laptops also were intentionally shorted out at schools in Cromwell, Derby and Newington, officials said. Newington’s fire started when a student stuck a staple into the USB cord, Fire Marshal DJ Zordan said Wednesday.

No other town has yet reported making arrests in their incidents.

Trending
House Bill 929 also directs fire departments to purchase gear free of hazardous chemicals and requires mental health monitoring of firefighters
FDNY Firefighter Michael Kotzo will receive the department’s top honor for his heroic rope rescue during a Harlem blaze, one of three at the same fire
A federal court ruled Atlantic City violated the firefighter’s religious rights by enforcing a beard ban, despite his support role and lack of fit testing
Forty-eight active shooter incidents were reported in 2023; in 2024, the FBI identified 24 incidents

© 2025 Journal Inquirer, Manchester, Conn.
Visit www.journalinquirer.com.
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.