Crime & Safety

Photo Id's Monta Vista High Teacher Threatened in Graffiti

A photo of the graffiti at Lynbrook identifies the Monta Vista High School teacher threatened in the vandalism.

UPDATE as of 2 p.m. Thursday: Patch has received reports of graffiti at multiple schools, not just Lynbrook High School. One former Kennedy Middle School student says the vandalized wall in the attached picture is actually Kennedy, not Lynbrook. Patch will continue to follow this and provide updates. This article has been edited to reflect the change.

UPDATE: As of 11:40 a.m. the Sheriff's office reopened the closed roads and reported it did not find any explosives or suspicious items.

Graffiti scrawled in a light, bright blue on the side of a school building that was reported early Thursday morning and caused the shut down of two nearby schools specifically named a Monta Vista High School teacher in the threat.

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“I planted a bomb at Monta Vista to kill Matt Brashears,” is written in what appears to be spray paint as seen in a photo attached to this article. The photo was sent anonymously to Cupertino Patch.

Brashears is a teacher in the English department at Monta Vista according to the school website.

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“(Brashears) has got to be the nicest, most non-threatening person in the world!!!” wrote one mother of a Monta Vista student on Facebook.

Santa Clara County Sheriff’s bomb squad was scouring the school campus early Thursday after closing multiple intersections around the school and turning away students arriving for their first classes.

Next-door Lincoln Elementary school, which is not believed to be part of the threat, was closed for safety precautions.

The City of Cupertino reported around 11:30 a.m. that McClellan Road was reopened at the conclusion of the Sheriff's office investigation.

Kennedy Middle School, part of the tri-school daily traffic jam, remained open as authorities did not deem it at risk, according to Cupertino Union School District spokesman Jeremy Nishihara. A note to parents by CUSD Superintendent Wendy Gudalewicz said: “Out of an abundance of caution, we also kept students off of the upper field at Kennedy Middle School.”

Editor's note: When this article first was pubished the information came from police and school officials. It was unknown by Patch at the time that graffiti was also at Kennedy Middle School, and has also been reported to be seen at the 7-11 at McClellan and Bubb.

San Jose Police received a call from someone at Lynbrook, which is located almost four miles from Monta Vista in San Jose, reporting threatening graffiti on a wall at Lynbrook. It is unclear why the threat to Brashears was painted on Lynbrook and not Monta Vista, where he works, or neighboring Lincoln. Police declined comment because the investigation is ongoing.

Both Lynbrook and Monta Vista are part of the Fremont Union High School District.

Upon investigation San Jose Police determined a potential threat existed at Monta Vista and called the Sheriff’s communication office around 6:39 a.m. at which time deputies were dispatched and are now conducting a thorough campus-wide sweep with specially trained dogs.

A search was done at Lynbrook by San Jose police—it is unclear how extensive the search was—and SJPD Officer Albert Morales said the school was not shut down nor were roads closed as a result of the vandalism since the threat was determined to be focused on Brashears at Monta Vista.

News helicopters buzzed overhead in the normally quiet neighborhood surrounding Monta Vista and Lincoln, and school personnel could be seen standing in one of the school’s parking lots as bomb squads searched the campus.

No further information or comment was given by Fremont Union High School District Superintendent Polly Bove.


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