Suspect arrested for graffiti referencing Sandy Hook found near Bethesda school

A teenage boy has been arrested days after disturbing graffiti messages referencing the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooter were discovered near an elementary school in Bethesda, Maryland, police say.

Montgomery County police said Wednesday morning that the 16-year-old suspect was in custody and the department would provide more information later in the day.

Graffiti was discovered on a fence at a tennis court next to Bradley Hills Elementary on Saturday. The offensive graffiti has since been painted over.

The graffiti expressed sympathy for the man who shot and killed 26 people at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012. Most of those victims were children.

Extra police have patrolled the school this week and some parents have kept their children home.

“It was unnerving because now you have to think about the safety of the kids,” one parent told News4. “I could understand if parents didn’t want to send their children to school or anything.”

Extra police patrolled an elementary school in Bethesda, Maryland, on Monday after disturbing graffiti was found nearby.News4’s Jessica Albert reports.

At least 350 parents attended a quickly organized virtual meeting on the graffiti and the response, Montgomery County Councilmember Andrew Friedson said on Monday. Friedson represents the neighborhood around the school and is running for county executive.

“It really speaks to the alarm, the level of concern, the amount of palpable fear that there is,” he said.

“It’s disturbing, and my kid goes to Bradley Hills so I’m very concerned,” a parent who requested to remain anonymous told News4 earlier this week. “I don’t know how to process this. I don’t know what kind of people will leave a message like this for little kids.”

The graffiti vandalism was discovered about a week after another disturbing incident at the school: A shed on the property was burned in what is being investigated as a case of arson. It wasn’t immediately clear if there was any connection between the two incidents. They are being investigated through the fire marshal’s office, Second District police Cmdr. Amy Daum said.

There will be extra security at Bradley Hills Elementary in Bethesda after graffiti expressing sympathy for the Sandy Hook shooter was found nearby. News4’s Jessica Albert reports.

She urged community members to contact police with information, no matter how insignificant they think it could be. Daum also asked people to be careful not to post or share rumors and unverified information.

In a letter sent to parents obtained by News4, Montgomery County school leaders wrote, in part, “To be clear, the use of the name of an individual responsible for such a heinous act, one that involved the loss of life of young school children, can only be interpreted as an act intended to intimidate and cause fear within the Bradley Hills School community, and the broader neighborhood and community, too.”

The letter goes on to say that Montgomery County police are investigating and that school leaders have turned over surveillance video and other information to them — but this isn’t the only disturbing incident to happen at the school recently.

School leaders said they do not know if the two incidents are connected.