A 15-year-old boy was arrested Friday in connection with several incidents involving hateful graffiti at an elementary school in San Diego's South Bay, police said.
Officers took the teenager into custody during a high school football game at around 7 p.m., according to the Chula Vista Police Department. The boy, whose name was not released because he's a minor, faces felony hate crime and felony vandalism charges.
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Camarena Elementary School's campus was vandalized three times in the last week, with the latest incident discovered Wednesday morning, according to the Chula Vista Police Department. That graffiti was found at the back of the school and had the same style as the previous instances, the department said.
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CVPD said earlier this week that it was investigating a possible hate crime after the disturbing graffiti was found scrawled across the walls.
On Saturday, the campus was tagged with blue and black spray paint in more than 15 different places, including walls, doors, windows, signs and even a mural in a gated portion of campus. The graffiti consisted of racial slurs (toward more than one race), swastikas, plus other concerning words and symbols, CVPD Sgt. Anthony Molina told NBC 7. The graffiti was first discovered just before 8 a.m. on Sunday.
Around 11 p.m. Sunday night, a custodian was on campus cleaning the graffiti and noticed someone on campus. The custodian called police, but officers did not find anyone, according to Molina.
A local news team arrived at Camarena Elementary around 5 a.m. Monday to report on Saturday night's graffiti only to find new graffiti near the front of the campus, Molina said. The graffiti had similar messaging and was painted in red, white and silver. Police told NBC 7 that graffiti would have occurred between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m.
In some cases, the messages were written over where parents had spent hours cleaning up the first mess on Sunday afternoon.
CVPD said because of the language written in the graffiti, police were investigating at least the first two vandalism incidents as felony hate crimes with thousands of dollars worth of damage.
Police told NBC 7 they have been at campus since early Monday morning working closely with school staff and communicating with parents to ensure campus safety.
A spokesperson with the district said earlier this week the safety of their students is their highest priority and there is no threat to the school.
Chula Vista police say they worked closely with the school's staff throughout the investigation and that federal authorities and the Anti-Defamation League were consulted. After investigators spoke with various community members, authorities identified at least one suspect connected to the vandalism incidents.
"Doing everything we could, from speaking with residents in the area, school staff, students, as well as looking at any evidence we had — all of that led to identifying a suspect in this case," Molina said in an interview with NBC 7 on Friday night.
Investigators are still looking into whether more suspects are involved. If you have any information, contact San Diego County Crime Stoppers and 888-580-8477 or submit anonymous tips online or through the P3tips mobile application.
