Parents, students, and the community in Montgomery County, Maryland, have been left rattled after graffiti honoring the Sandy Hook Elementary School mass shooter, Adam Lanza, was discovered on Bradley Hills Elementary School over the weekend.
The graffiti, which read “RIP Adam Lanza,” was found painted on a fence at the elementary school on Saturday.
In 2012, Lanza shocked and saddened the world when he carried out the Sandy Hook massacre in Newtown, Connecticut, murdering 20 first-grade children and six adults before taking his own life.
Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) immediately notified families in a letter sent to the Bradley Hills Elementary community.
MCPS Chief of Schools Dr. Peter O. Moran wrote:
“Today, graffiti was discovered on a fence at Bradley Hills Elementary School that included the name of the perpetrator of the Sandy Hook Elementary School mass shooting in 2012 in Newtown, Connecticut. 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.”
Dr. Moran added that the “despicable act” would be met with a “substantial and uniform response” from MCPS and the Montgomery County Police Department.
School staff documented the graffiti, and a building services team removed it before the end of Saturday evening.
Hellbound and Down 