Damage caused by vandals. (Roosevelt High School)
Hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of damage to an Oregon high school was being blamed on vandalism.
The Oregonian reported Tuesday that Roosevelt High School’s basketball coach discovered that water had burst through multiple floors of the school’s new wing. For over two hours, the water had been pouring down the new hallways, down its elevator and into offices and classrooms.
Roosevelt Principal Filip Hristic said that the six classrooms and six bathrooms are unusable for a few weeks. One class is being held in a food pantry and another in a conference room, The Oregonian reported.
The Oct. 15 flooding damage is estimated to cost the North Portland school $300,000 and is now being blamed on teens from a visiting camp.
Hristic said that video surveillance footage shows teenagers turning on an emergency shower in a science room, defacing a whiteboard and spraying a fire extinguisher in a classroom. The teens were at the school for a basketball camp that the school had hosted. He added that he believes the students don’t attend Roosevelt and the damage was done on purpose.
"We just got all this new stuff and it's just ridiculous," one student told Fox 12.
The school had recently put in the new wing in a $92 million bond-funded rebuild of the school that had been long overdue.
Out of all the classes at Roosevelt, a science class was hit the hardest in the alleged vandalism. Joel Hanawait told The Oregonian that the vandals sprayed the fire extinguisher all over the equipment.
He added that there was no way to do a science experiment in the space that his class was relocated to.
Portland police have identified suspects in the vandalism and are not releasing the surveillance footage, Sgt. Pete Simpson said.
Students have been told that repairs would finish within three to four weeks.
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