Police Investigate Butler Intermediate H.S. Break-In
BUTLER TOWNSHIP (KDKA) - Police in Butler County are looking into a break-in incident at the Butler Intermediate High School.
Authorities in Butler Township say someone broke into the school overnight and caused some serious damage.
Butler Area School District Superintendent Dr. Michael Strutt says he got a phone call around 1:30 a.m. saying the fire alarm was going off at the school.
Emergency crews responded and found a big mess.
"They didn't find anybody in the building, but they did find that someone had entered and spray-painted graffiti throughout several parts of the building," says Strutt.
He would not elaborate on the nature of the graffiti.
Several items were taken from the school, including some cameras and camera bags, which were stolen from a classroom on the first floor.
Butler Township Police Chief John Hays says there have only been minor break-ins at the school in the past, but never something like this.
Strutt says a similar break-in happened over the weekend.
"On Saturday, at that time, some items were taken. Nothing of extreme value, but we did notice there was some theft," says Strutt. "We have the staff checking to see if there was anything taken that we didn't discover whenever our people were in cleaning the building over the weekend."
Police are trying to figure out if the two break-ins are related.
The school does have surveillance cameras, but the thieves took steps to conceal their identity.
Chief Hays says they wore clothing to cover themselves. Strutt says they spray-painted over the security cameras as well.
"We were able to get some footage," says Strutt.
The school is expected to turn the surveillance video over to police to help with the investigation.
"The building, as far as we know, was secure," says Chief Hays. "We're still trying to determine exactly how they got into the building."
So far, police do not have any suspects.
Security is also being increased at the school and police will be adding extra patrols through the area to discourage further vandalism.
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