Police Identify Four Teenagers Who Left A Deer Carcass Near Picket Lines

WASHINGTON COUNTY (KDKA) -- Peters Township Police have identified four teenagers who they believe left a spray-painted deer carcass near the picket lines for striking teachers.

Police don't think it was meant to intimidate. Instead, they say it was a bad prank.

The four male teens are all students at Peters High School. Police say the boys thought it was funny, but no one's laughing and the boys will likely be charged and pay a fine.

Police say it was a copycat crime. It happened after someone tossed a dead squirrel at picketing teachers.

"This was all precipitated by the squirrel being thrown by someone else," Chief Harry Fruecht said. "They thought that was funny. So they just figure, if they escalated it a little bit, it'd be just as funny."

But it wasn't just the painted deer. The kids confessed to leaving another dead deer, another dead squirrel and a dead raccoon at the picket site.

It hasn't stopped the teachers from picketing. Friday was the 18th day of their strike.

"That kind of intimidation is really scary to the people on the picket line," Shannon Hemmingson, a striking teacher, said. "But I'm glad the police have done their due diligence to try and catch the people who did this."

In the meantime, there's no progress in contract talks. State laws will force the teachers to return to work next Friday. But they could strike again later in the school year. As for the four teens with the dead animals, police are talking with the boys and their parents.

"The kids we talked to were very remorseful and sorry," Fruecht said. "They didn't perceive the consequences or the way it might be perceived. I don't think they do that at this young age. They just think, 'oh this is going to be fun, so let's do it.'"

The four teens will likely be charged with game commission violations and disorderly conduct, and they'll have to pay a fine.

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