Brownsville school trashed; fourth-grader arrested

BROWNSVILLE - Brownsville school district police detained a fourth-grader in connection to a burglary and rampant destruction at Vermillion Elementary with damage estimates ranging from $60,000 to $100,000.

Officers responding to a fire alarm at 4 a.m. Monday went to 6845 Farm-to-Market Road 802 to discover more than 50 classrooms vandalized, according to BISD Police Chief Oscar Garcia. Nearly every classroom was vandalized with the exception of administrative offices, library, and cafeteria, he said.

The student was charged with engaging in organized criminal activity and burglary, Garcia said. He added more arrests are expected.

Damage and losses included broken windows, doors, equipment, furniture and missing equipment such as computers and laptops, Garcia said. He also said damage was caused from the activation of fire extinguishers and running water faucets.

"We are still investigating, but let me be clear that we are looking to prosecute those individuals involved," he said.

The police chief said that the school does not have a surveillance system, but it does have an alarm system. When asked if the system detected the break in, he said that it was being investigated and would not release further details.

Confidential sources inside the school said gang-related graffiti was found inside the school. Garcia said the building sustained some paint damage, but does not believe that juvenile gangs were involved.

For Oscar Garcia, a parent not related to the BISD police chief, the vandalism came as an unfortunate surprise as he had to use his lunch hour to pick up his children. Students were released early because of the vandalism.

"This is not right," Garcia said. "I hope they catch whoever was responsible because this school is for our children, not some playground for someone to come break and take what they want."

The police chief said a call to a tip hotline led to the arrest of the BISD student. Around noon, BISD officers recovered some of the stolen property, he added.

Damage inside was widespread enough that school officials relocated students to nearby Rivera High School for the day.

"We implemented our Emergency Operations Plan," Garcia said. "We use it in case of an emergency. We moved our students to the nearest school, in this case Rivera, and everything went smooth."

According to BISD spokesperson Drue Brown, as of presstime cleaning crews had managed to clean up and repair most of the damage done, so classes will resume today.