Skip to content

Police seek leads in Nystrom Elementary vandalism

on February 16, 2012

Police are continuing to investigate extensive vandalism inflicted on Nystrom Elementary this weekend.

Vandals splattered paint throughout the building, smashed windows, destroyed electronics and soaked the floors in Nystrom’s recently renovated, multi-million dollar auditorium. The auditorium contains a gym, library, classrooms, computer lab and a kitchen.

Costs of repairing the damage could exceed $500,000, according to media reports.

Richmond Police Dept. Capt. Mark Gagan said detectives are investigating the incident, but have not found any suspects or conclusive motives.

This is the second time vandals have struck Nystrom Elementary in recent months. Both times, someone left graffiti with the initials “DJ.”

In a statement released Tuesday, Congressman George Miller said he felt the vandalism was an assault against the entire community.

“The people of Richmond went to great lengths over a number of years to financially support the rebuilding of many of its elementary, middle and high school facilities to provide a better educational future for their students,” the statement reads. “I am saddened by this attack and look forward to the Richmond Police Department’s investigation and successful pursuit of those responsible. Meanwhile, I am certain that the Richmond community will not be defeated by this selfish and cowardly act.”

The RPD is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the vandals. Anyone who knows more about the incident should call the RPD at (510) 233-1214.

Richmond Confidential welcomes comments from our readers, but we ask users to keep all discussion civil and on-topic. Comments post automatically without review from our staff, but we reserve the right to delete material that is libelous, a personal attack, or spam. We request that commenters consistently use the same login name. Comments from the same user posted under multiple aliases may be deleted. Richmond Confidential assumes no liability for comments posted to the site and no endorsement is implied; commenters are solely responsible for their own content.

Card image cap
logo
Richmond Confidential

Richmond Confidential is an online news service produced by the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism for, and about, the people of Richmond, California. Our goal is to produce professional and engaging journalism that is useful for the citizens of the city.

Please send news tips to richconstaff@gmail.com.

Latest Posts

Scroll To Top