The Record Newspapers - Hometown News For Orange County, Texas

On Friday, June 20, around 7:35 a.m., the Orange County Sheriff’s Office received a report from an official with the Orangefield Independent School District that the Orangefield Junior High School building had been vandalized.

Once deputies arrived, the custodial staff at the school reported they found different areas within the school that had been ransacked and damaged. During the investigation, deputies located open paint cans with the contents dumped on the floors and spread on some lockers in the main hall. Several of the class rooms had paint, glue, and hand sanitizer spread on chairs and on the floors. A trophy was found broken in a locker room and food products were spread in areas throughout the school. Garbage cans were turned over and trash was spread across the floors. There were a few white boards that had explicite and derogatory language written on them, with some containing vulgar drawings.

A school official gave an initial rough estimate of anywhere from $15,000 to $20,000 worth of damage in total to the school building. Deputies were able to gather evidence from the scene, and after following up on some of the information, deputies were able to track down four white male juveniles who confessed to the crime. Two of the juveniles, a 15 year old and 13 year old, were enrolled as students in the Orangefield School District and live near the school. The other two juveniles, a 14 year old and 13 year old, reside in Beaumont, but were staying with a relative in the Orangefield area at the time.

The Orangefield School District is pursing charges and the investigation is ongoing.