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Town and school district officials announced Friday they are offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of those responsible for threatening graffiti near Charlotte Wood Middle School that led to increased police presence and decreased attendance at some Danville schools this week.

“This situation has caused a lot of anxiety in our community,” said Mary Shelton, superintendent of the San Ramon Valley Unified School District. “It is our hope that by offering this reward, someone in the community with information will come forward and help us bring this situation to a close.”

The original graffiti, found spray-painted on rocks in a creek bed adjacent to the entrance of the school on El Capitan Drive on May 1, threatened that 12 people would be killed on May 8. Apparent copycat messages were also discovered in the ensuing days at Charlotte Wood and nearby John Baldwin Elementary, officials said.

The graffiti prompted Danville police to increase their presence at the two campuses and around all town schools on Thursday. No incidents occurred that day, but student attendance was down 50% at Charlotte Wood and John Baldwin, according to officials.

The joint reward is aimed at assisting the investigation into the initial message outside Charlotte Wood, officials said.

“This person may think that what they did was a simple prank,” Danville Police Chief Steve Simpkins said. “But the reality is they threatened the safety of people in our community, and we do not take that lightly.”

Anyone with information about the original threatening message discovered near Charlotte Wood can contact the Danville Police Department at (925) 314-3700 or tips@danville.ca.gov.

Jeremy Walsh is the editorial director of Embarcadero Media Foundation's East Bay Division, including the Pleasanton Weekly, LivermoreVine.com and DanvilleSanRamon.com. He joined the organization in late...

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3 Comments

  1. Let’s put our money where our mouths are: I will match up to $50 per contribution per family for anyone who would like to add to this award – up to 10 families ($500). That will double the award.

    Let’s fish these idiots out.

    Any takers before I spend some timing with the district on setting his up?

  3. I heard from Principal McGee that samples of those graffiti have been forwarded to Washington DC, where the FBI has experts in this kind of identification. If they turn themselves in, they MAY be able to avoid a federal charge.

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