School resumes after vandalism

Students and staff members at Carson Middle School returned Monday to find several windows covered in cardboard after vandals struck throughout west Carson City during the weekend.

"It's pretty crummy somebody would do that," said Gavin Ward, vice principal of Carson Middle School. "Hopefully, somebody will step up and we'll find out who did this."

Reports still were coming in Monday morning as people continued to find damage from the Saturday night vandalism, Sheriff Ken Furlong said.

"We're up to about a dozen reports," he said. "It's just a random act of vandalism. You name it, they hit it."

Windows were broken in cars, homes, businesses, schools and a church.

"To hit a church is just appalling," Furlong said. "It's senseless damage. Absolutely senseless."

It appeared the vandals used large rocks and BB guns to shatter the glass, Furlong said.

"In some cases, it might be that the windows were kicked out," he said.

He said reports have come in from Washington Street south and from Curry Street west, with Carson Middle School, on West King Street, receiving the most damage.

Mark Korinek, director of operations for the Carson City School District, said 10 windows were broken there with softball-sized stones. In some cases, he said, shattered glass was found 30 feet into the hallway from the force of the impact.

Maintenance crews worked over the weekend to clean up the glass and make the school safe for students, he said. In addition to the windows, he said, some of the doors were damaged. While an exact estimate wasn't available, Korinek said the damage will cost thousands of dollars to repair for a district facing drastic budget cuts.

"There's not a whole lot of extra money to repair these kinds of things," he said. "Obviously, it takes precedence. That just means something else can't be done."

A window was also broken at nearby Bordewich-Bray Elementary School. The window was near a surveillance camera installed just last week, Korinek said.

"We're going to be reviewing that footage," he said. "Hopefully, we'll get lucky with that one."

Furlong is asking residents and business owners in the area to review video taken from surveillance cameras between about 1 and 3 a.m. Sunday. Police would like to take a look at any people seen in the area at that time, regardless of whether they're involved, Furlong said.

Anyone with video footage is asked to call the non-emergency dispatch line at 775-887-2008.