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.
“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.
“(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.
I certainly understand the concern and do have compassion for him and his family and hope you understand that I would never have published anything that I thought put them in danger. If the images and information had come to me through any other means I would not have published it, but at the time of publishing was receiving comments from multiple people, parents included, who thought this may be a prank, not something that was a real threat. The fact that SJPD did not fully investigate Lynbrook also led to the belief that this was not a serious threat.
Why don't parents and concerned people focus on the fact that perhaps a mentally imbalance kid is attending classes with kids like my own. I would like to believe it is a prank.....but after todays's headlines about CT, my heart is in my mouth and my feet and phone are ready to make a dash for school should anything stir. What is even more concerning is that though there was graffiti on the walls of Kennedy Middle School, the Cupertino Union School District decided to keep the school open. A thousand students and teachers exposed to a possible threat for what? A concerned parent.
That said, your question as to why Kennedy and Lynbrook and Cupertino High were all kept open is a question for officials, but I would have to trust that they would never have put a single student or staff member in jeopardy if they had an inkling of a serious threat.
Social media should not be abused this way. Even if the teacher's information is on Facebook, most people would not search it up as they frankly don't care if they are not in this immediate community, and removing it from this website would spare a young family from more exposure.
Unless you are very close to him, ex: a student, teacher, chances are that you won't even find him on Facebook unless it's on Rate My Teacher. Does this article really need to be the first thing that pops up when someone searches his name, even though there was no other connection until now? I'm not blaming, I'm just asking for his name to be taken down. And there were many police officers patrolling the area around there, I'm thankful for their quick response. For now, I shall end up focusing my attention to today's news.
At Monta Vista, all our teachers today have respectfully declined from mentioning his name, and asked that we do the same. The consensus from the MV community is that has he been deeply affected by this incident, and would like to keep its impact on his life as minimal as possible- whether he knows about this article or not, this can't be helping. If you seriously want to keep his name up on this website, I ask that you please at least consult him and ask his permission; it's the least you could do for him, after the very bad turn his life has taken. Does volunteer work involve malicious intent and danger to your life? You're connecting two different occurences that aren't on the same planet of severity- even if this was a prank or a hoax, it's still a threat to your life from a stranger posted publicly for everyone to see. Please; I know this teacher and many of my friends have this teacher; we are all concerned for him. I don't know much about the newspaper-writing process, but could you spare the time it takes to change your article? I don't think it'll be too much skin off your nose, and the Monta Vista community would deeply appreciate your compassion.
That's like comparing a Hollywood celebrity to a family man. A death threat is not something you want to be associated with. Someone might take a glance at that phrase and the teacher's name and assume that he might have been a bad teacher or such. What is the difference you say, between volunteer work and a death threat? One is beneficial to the community, it is a "group", while the other is a very threat to their "selves"/lives. Whose articles? Media, NOT SOCIAL MEDIA, generally do not release the victim's names. And again, this article is the only one that comes up when you search his name.
Also, someone else has stated above, that this site is no less professional than any other website. As of now, I do not agree, because this is the difference between an amateur and a professional website. A professional newspaper would have taken everything into consideration and not have had his name up. A professional newspaper would have not gone this far arguing with its readers. A professional newspaper author knows when to admit a fault, rather then keep pride, because it shows maturity and willingness to be a community with their community and readers. The most basic classes on journalism states the boundaries of publicity and its circumstances. It is not only the choice of the author, it involves logical and emotional thinking about everyone involved.
Social networks are notorious gossip machines which have little social responsibility or value. I believe that local news media which caters more to a specific community should have more sensitivity to local feelings. The fact that other more remote news media had greater sensitivity than the Cupertino Patch to a Cupertino news event seem counterproductive for a local media that wants to maintain a close relationship with the community it serves.
true, many people already who it is, but it is still wrong for his name to be publiclized. people who have published this on facebook and tumblr have already been asked to remove it. PLEASE TAKE OFF his name. it is a violation of his privacy. it already sucks to have schools closed down on on own's behalf, and this is just too much.