A List of Suspects in Threats at School

Graffiti Writer Would Face Expulsion; Videotape from a Hidden Camera Was Used for Investigation

By CHRIS BURRELL

Relying on videotape and handwriting samples, Oak Bluffs police and officials at the regional high school said they have narrowed down the list of girls suspected of writing a threatening message in a school bathroom last Thursday.

At least a few of those girls have already been suspended from school, and police plan to subject some of them to lie detector tests as they continue their investigation into the graffiti.

The message written in the stall of a bathroom in the east wing of the school near the student parking lot read as follows: "Your all gonna die Dec. 12. I pulling a Columbine."

Oak Bluffs police Sgt. Tim Williamson told the Gazette yesterday that while the graffiti showed poor grammar and spelling, the handwriting was neat.

Martha's Vineyard Regional High School principal Peg Regan said the person who penned the message will face expulsion from school and possibly criminal charges.

"We sincerely hope that whoever wrote this message will come forward and seek help if they are disturbed or angry," the principal wrote in her letter.

The suspects are all females, and Mrs. Regan took preemptive action Tuesday and Wednesday, deciding to suspend "a few" girls through Monday based on what she called "reasonable suspicion."

That suspicion is based partly on videotape from a hidden camera in the hallway. Mrs. Regan acknowledged there is more than one concealed camera in the high school, but refused to say how many cameras are keeping watch over the students and school building.

The threatening message, discovered at 1:30 p.m. by a student and reported to a teacher, may just be a prank, but police and school clearly aren't taking any chances.

"Because the message is anonymous, we must take it quite seriously and employ all precautions for the safety of the students and the staff here," Mrs. Regan wrote in a letter to parents and students sent out Wednesday.

The principal gave parents the option of deciding whether or not to send children to school today, a move that could make the school building feel awfully empty.

Police from four Island towns were expected to lock down the high school at 6:30 p.m. yesterday and conduct a sweep of lockers and other areas. All week, teachers were under orders to search cabinets in their classrooms for anything out of the ordinary.

"We feel like we have established a very, very safe environment for tomorrow's school day," Mrs. Regan told the Gazette yesterday.

Those measures are extensive. A strong police presence is expected to remain in place all day at the school with officers posted at every entrance when they reopen school at 7 a.m. Students have been asked not to bring any backpacks or bags to school, but to carry only the books necessary for the day's classes.

If students arrive with any kind of bag or even musical instrument case, Mrs. Regan said, "All those things we will put aside and search."

In addition, this morning's performance of the Nutcracker Gala at the high school was canceled. Sports practices at the school were also canceled, and the football team - on the eve of the state Super Bowl game - will move practice to the field at the Oak Bluffs School.

Sergeant Williamson said of the investigation, "We've definitely narrowed it down to a few, using the videotape evidence of who was in and out the bathroom.

"This is also definitely taking a lot of man hours between the investigation and the proactive measures we're going to be taking this evening and tomorrow," he added.

Assisting Oak Bluffs police in the clampdown at the school that began yesterday were state police and officers from Edgartown, Tisbury and West Tisbury. Extra officers had to be hired for the detail so that departments were not left short-handed, the sergeant said.

Despite the drastic safety precautions, numerous students are expected to stay home today, whether out of genuine fear or simply the chance for a three-day weekend.

Reaction from students and parents differs, but one thing is certain: They are upset and disturbed by the incident.

"I feel confident in the people at the school when they say it's safe to come," said Linda Hughes of West Tisbury, who has two children at the high school. "I feel if someone did this as a joke, they're missing how serious this is. And if somebody was really planning on doing something, it's frightening, but keeping [a child] home gives credence to the whole thing."

Stuart Bangs, a senior from Edgartown and the student body president, said "Some people are genuinely worried."

Others view it as a convenient holiday, he added.

But news of hidden cameras in the school troubles Mr. Bangs. "They do serve a legitimate purpose," he said. "But it's a little unsettling they didn't tell us we were being watched."

Mrs. Regan said cameras were installed in the school two and a half years ago after the theft of computer equipment. Reports of theft from the high school have been common in the last several months, not only with the reports of kitchen equipment being stolen by a teacher from the culinary arts department but also in September when a large Allen Whiting painting was taken from the teachers' lounge.

But the prospect of violence on the level of a school shooting like the one at Columbine High School in Colorado four years ago has sent a ripple of fear through the high school community.

"Most people just think there's just somebody messing around, but they aren't going to admit they're afraid and wondering what if it's not Friday but some other day," said senior Jesse Wiener who lives in Aquinnah.

Sophomore Nina Carelli from Vineyard Haven put it this way: "We all know it's going to be different now. It's always going to be tainted. Anything could happen now. Some people are nervous."