WASHINGTON — A pepper spray incident at a D.C. charter school resulted in 16 students being taken to a hospital on Tuesday, officials say.

ABC7 reports that a student brought a container of pepper spray to the Cesar Chavez Public Charter School, on Kenyon Street in Northwest, and had it in his desk. Principal Bob McCarty told ABC7 that the student moved some things around in his desk, accidentally discharging the spray.

Firefighters told ABC7 that 16 students were taken to Children’s Hospital for treatment, but McCarty says they were only taken for evaluation. ABC7’s Bob Bell says that a letter home to parents said that some children were having breathing difficulties.

See a report from ABC7: