Student charged after spray painting ‘message’

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BEACON FALLS — Graffiti spray painted at Woodland Regional High School led to the arrest of a student and “false rumors” of a threat, according to school officials.

Region 16 Superintendent of Schools Michael Yamin said a “message” was spray painted on the sidewalk near the front entrance of the school, which serves students from Beacon Falls and Prospect, early Sunday morning.

Police were called Sunday night, according to a state police report. (Report) In the report, police stated the message spray painted was “Karma is a Bitch but so was Juvie,” and the word “Bitch” again, which was circled.

Surveillance footage from cameras at the school showed that two juveniles got out of a car parked on Back Rimmon Road and entered school grounds through a side entrance on the road at 4:45 a.m. Sunday, Yamin said.

One of the juveniles then spray painted the graffiti in black paint, Yamin said. Officials identified the juvenile through the footage as a student at the school, and he was arrested on Monday afternoon, Yamin said.

No further information on the arrest or charges filed against the juvenile was available as of this post.

Yamin said the student is also facing discipline from the school district. He said officials are still working to identify who he was with, but they believe he isn’t a student at the school.

Yamin said the incident led to “false rumors” circulating that the school had been threatened. He said Beacon Falls and state police investigated the incident and checked the juvenile’s social media accounts, and no threats were made.

“We are 100 percent confident that Woodland is safe,” he said.

In response to concerns from the community, Yamin said, there was a police presence at the school today, which is the fourth anniversary of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown. He added there will be a police presence at school the rest of the week.

Due to the weather, the district hasn’t been able to clean up the graffiti yet, Yamin said. It is covered up for now, he said, and will be cleaned as soon as possible.