Vandalism at Vermillion

Brownsville Independent School District police detained a fourth-grader in connection to a burglary and rampant destruction at Vermillion Elementary with damages ranging from $60,000 to $100,000.

Officers responded to a 4 a.m. Monday fire alarm at 6845 FM 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 wouldn't release further details.

Confidential sources inside the school said gang-related graffiti inside the school was related to the Sur 13 and the East-Sider's.

Garcia said the school sustained some paint damage, but doesn't believe that juvenile gangs were involved.

For Oscar Garcia, a school parent with no relation 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, who were released early from school because of the crime.

"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 the tip hotline 542-7233 led to the arrest of the BISD student. Garcia encouraged anyone with additional information to call. At around noon, BISD officers recovered some of the stolen property, he added.

Damage to the school 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 a majority of the damage done and school will return to normal today.