San Diego police were investigating threatening messages spray-painted on walls around Rancho Bernardo High School on Monday, including one referencing Florida. As a result, several officers were stationed at the campus and many students opted to skip school for the day.

Police said they were called shortly after 6:30 a.m. and found more than 20 graffiti messages around the campus on Paseo Lucido, said San Diego police Officer Billy Hernandez.

Poway Unified School District spokeswoman Christine Paik said police determined the threats were not credible and were trying to figure out who had left them at the school, which was back in session after a weeklong break.

People posted images of some of the disturbing spray-painted messages on Twitter, some of which included the words “the innocent will die,” “Florida was nothing” and “RBHS school shooting.” Many also included “2/26 12:00,” apparently a reference to today’s date.


“We have thousands of students returning from a weeklong February break (who) were returning to school today. Some of them arrived to find that,” Paik told reporters. “That was a severe disruption to the school day, as well as it strikes fear in the hearts of students, parents, teachers, staff. This kind of stuff we have to take seriously in this day and age. With that Florida shooting just a couple weeks ago, this is fresh on everybody’s minds”.

A gunman opened fire on Feb. 14 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., killing 17 people. A 19-year-old has been charged in the school massacre.

Classes at Rancho Bernardo High were being held as normal and parents were sent an email about the graffiti, Poway Unified School District spokesman Harry Katcher said.

“Certainly people are on edge, but right now I don’t have any word that the school is closed or will be closed,” Katcher said.


Crews started to clean up the graffiti, which was painted in common areas on the campus. Police took photographs of the vandalism, Paik said.

“This is costly, not just in terms of time but financially as well,” she said.

Paik said many students opted to leave campus once they heard about the threats. Although school was in session and the campus did not go into lockdown, she said the graffiti created a major disruption for the school.

“I can’t stress enough, this type of thing is not ‘Oh, let’s get a free day off of school.’ This is serious with serious consequences and criminal charges,” she said.


An email about the graffiti was sent to Rancho Bernardo area families from Rancho Bernardo High School Principal Dave LeMaster Monday morning.

It read: “This morning we discovered threatening messages spray painted throughout our campus. We immediately contacted San Diego Police Department who are on campus investigating. At this point, the (police) do not believe this to be a credible threat. We will continue to have police presence on campus for the remainder of the day and throughout the week.”

The principal also said that he knew many students “elected to leave campus before school started” after seeing the graffiti. He said additional communication would be sent to families later Monday.

Several schools in the region reacted to threats of violence last week, some relayed on social media and some scrawled on walls or uttered by students.


A 14-year-old freshman was arrested and suspended from Torrey Pines High School in San Diego after he was accused of making verbal and written threats. On Friday, the Sheriff’s Department investigated a threatening message found on a bathroom wall at Steam Academy at La Presa in Spring Valley. A similar message was found on a bathroom wall at one of the High Tech High campuses in Point Loma on Tuesday.


karen.kucher@sduniontribune.com