Five Fallbrook Union High School students have been identified by sheriff's deputies as partakers in the alleged senior prank early May 19. The incident left the high school campus littered with trash and toilet paper, locks glued shut, and more seriously, racial slurs painted on buildings.

"Of grave concern, there were two instances of spray painted racial slurs," said principal Larry Boone, who added that trash cans were thrown on roofs and tables thrown into the swimming pool. "We take this quite seriously and are working diligently with law enforcement to handle this matter in a swift and appropriate manner," he said.

Sgt. Patrick Yates with the Sheriff’s Dept. said that the school district is running its own investigation apart from the investigation being run by the Sheriff’s Dept.

Yates also explained that the district’s investigation may naturally be different from that of the substation because the district is not bound by the Miranda laws.

“Mostly they are concurrent,” said Yates. “We have a great relationship with the district.”

“There will be a separate set of consequences,” said Yates. “People have been calling us and asking why the students have only been suspended and will still be allowed to walk at graduation, but that has nothing to do with us.”

The five suspects were identified throughout the course of the investigation, some through social media, said Yates.

Yates explained that law enforcement is still conducting its investigation.

“There is very slim chance that this will be considered a hate crime,” said Yates. “It hasn’t been that easy to [talk with] the suspects since they have been suspended, but once we have finished our investigation, it will be handed to the district

attorney’s office.”

Initially, the farewell pep rally on campus and senior sunset event were cancelled, according to students at the high school. However, by Friday, May 20, the farewell pep rally was reinstated.

“It took some time to remove the graffiti, but no repainting needed to be done,” said Yates. “We are still trying to figure out how much time it took to do the washing and get the trash cans off the roof.”

The glue was also easily removed, said Yates.

"We know that this was done by a handful of students who do not represent the character of Fallbrook High School," said Boone. "We are still in the process of conducting a thorough investigation."

Dr. Hugo Pedroza did not respond to attempts from The Village News for a statement.