Vandals damage classrooms at Brevard elementary school

6 laptops also stolen from Endeavour Elementary Magnet School

COCOA, Fla. – Vandals on Saturday damaged several classrooms at a Brevard County elementary school and stole laptops, according to police.

Cocoa police said officers were called to Endeavour Elementary Magnet School for reports of a burglary. Officers said they found that five portable buildings and eight classrooms had been burglarized.

At least six laptops were stolen and several classrooms were vandalized, police said.

"Basically, they were ransacked. Stuff was tossed all over the place. There was some damage to some of the property in there," Yvonne Martinez, with the Cocoa Police Department, said.

Police said the suspects are younger than 18 and likely the male juveniles caught on the school's surveillance cameras loitering on campus at 8 p.m. Saturday.

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"I wouldn't call that a security issue. We're all vulnerable to that," Martinez said when asked if the vandals exploited a security problem at the school. "The school has a security officer who does rounds, didn't see anything suspicious at the time. They take the appropriate measures. The school buildings were locked, but a thief who wants to break in and cause trouble, they're going to find a way."

Brevard Public Schools officials said the thieves also shot off fire extinguishers.

Everything was cleaned up by 11 a.m. Monday.

"This is as heartbreaking as it is infuriating. These are tools that kids need to learn, so it's a violation in that regard," Assistant Superintendent Matt Reed said. "For a little while this morning, we had to have the students in the aftercare room. There was a community hall where a number of them could go as well." 

Police said this was the first burglary at Endevaour Elementary in six years.

Anyone with information is asked to call Crimeline at 800-423-TIPS.

 


About the Author:

James joined News 6 in March 2016 as the Brevard County Reporter. His arrival was the realization of a three-year effort to return to the state where his career began. James is from Pittsburgh, PA and graduated from Penn State in 2009 with a degree in Broadcast Journalism.

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