Shortly before Monticello High School students were dismissed Tuesday afternoon, Albemarle County Police arrested a student who confessed to vandalizing the school with racist graffiti.
The 17-year-old student, a white male, is a senior who attends the high school. He has been charged with one felony count of threatening to intimidate and one misdemeanor count of destruction of public property. He will be charged as a juvenile.
The vandalism on the pavement in front of the school occurred before students arrived for class Monday morning. The graffiti included racist and threatening statements and a picture of a Nazi flag with a gun and a bullet.
School Resource Officer Carl Brown, in conjunction with the Albemarle County Police Department, headed the investigation of the incident.
According to Albemarle County School Board member Susan C. Gallion, the student was caught on tape by surveillance cameras installed at the school, which helped lead to his arrest.
After Brown identified the student as a suspect, he interviewed the student and contacted his parents, according to Lee Catlin, community relations manager for Albemarle County.
The student confessed to the crime after being confronted by Brown, Catlin said.
In his confession, the student offered a possible motive for committing the crime, she said.
He was "disgruntled" about the school and "he felt it was a way to get some attention or recognition from" the school administration, she added.
The student has been placed in the Staunton Juvenile Facility while he awaits an Oct. 19 court date.
While there are no other suspects at this time, the investigation continues.
The student suspect soon will face a hearing in front of the county school board. The superintendent then will recommend expulsion or an alternate form of punishment.
"The [School] Board has zero tolerance for this behavior," Gallion said.
The incident is not the only crime at county schools recently. There have been arrests at two other county schools in the past three weeks because of bomb threats.
The three incidents are unrelated, Catlin said.
Monticello High School Principal Dr. Irving C. Jones Sr. could not be reached for comment and Brown declined to comment.
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