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."