Suspect sought after gluing 200 doors shut at high school, disrupting operations

SAN DIEGO, Calif. (KFMB/CNN/CNN Newsource/WKRC) – A suspect is being sought after nearly 200 doors were glued shut at a high school, leading to disruptions during finals week and causing thousands in damages.

Nearly 200 doors at a San Diego high school were glued shut in an act of vandalism that caused an estimated $70,000 in damage and disrupted campus operations during finals week, school police said.

The incident occurred May 26 at Patrick Henry High School, where authorities say a suspect spent about two hours on campus pouring glue into door locks, rendering many inaccessible.

Two weeks later, some locks remain damaged, according to San Diego Unified School District police.

“It was a huge disruption,” Detective Sgt. Roberto Bonilla told KFMB.

School surveillance cameras captured images of the suspect, but investigators have not yet identified the individual. Police described the person as wearing a distinctive hooded sweatshirt featuring a large letter “B” on the chest and covering much of their face.

Authorities believe the suspect acted alone.

Rumors have circulated among students that the vandalism may have been intended as a senior prank, but investigators have not determined whether the suspect is a Patrick Henry student.

“It is typical to see senior pranks, but those are more lighthearted, funny, more clever — nothing to this extreme of damaging over $70,000 worth of property,” Bonilla told KFMB.

The damage estimate has prompted Crime Stoppers to offer a reward of up to $1,000 for information leading to the arrest of the suspect, who could face felony vandalism charges.

The incident created challenges for staff and students during one of the busiest periods of the school year.

“The last couple of weeks of school are very busy,” Bonilla told KFMB. “Teachers and students are trying to get everything together before summer break, and it just created a big disruption.”

Despite the damage, school officials were able to access enough classrooms to continue the school day as scheduled.

Student Christopher Guzman told KFMB he immediately noticed something was wrong when he arrived on campus.

“I looked around, and there were all these teachers on the floor picking at the locks,” Guzman told KFMB.

Guzman said classes continued that day, including final exams.

“We still had class that day,” Guzman told KFMB. “Had to take the final.”