LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Threatening graffiti near Topanga Elementary Charter School in Topanga found on two separate occasions over the last three weeks were both deemed “non-credible” and not a “direct threat to the school,” it was reported this morning.
The first message, which included a swastika and the words “mass shoot everyone,” was scrawled on a vinyl banner for a play posted near Topanga School Road and Highway 27. A student reported the graffiti to a parent, who brought the banner to the school office on Nov. 21, according to a letter from the school's principal to parents obtained by The Los Angeles Times.
The letter also stated a swastika was drawn on the button of the pedestrian crosswalk at the intersection.
On Dec. 3, a student reported seeing graffiti that read “mass shooting” and “all humans are evil” written inside a drawing of a swastika on a school sign at the bottom of the hill leading to campus, the Times reported.
Los Angeles School Police and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department were called to investigate the incidents.
“The threat was deemed non-credible and there was no evidence of a direct threat to the school,” the statement read.
Los Angeles school board member Nick Melvoin, whose district includes the school, said the safety of students is “a top priority” and violent threats of any kind will not be tolerated in the Los Angeles Unified School District.
“I am especially saddened when these hateful messages threaten to disrupt a place of learning, just outside the walls where we teach our children every day to act with kindness and compassion,” Melvoin said in a statement.
The school has arranged for an increased police presence on campus during the investigation.
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