Police Investigate Seemingly Threatening Graffiti at Newark Memorial

It may have been an April Fool's joke, but Newark police and school officials aren't laughing.

Both district officials and police officers confirmed Thursday that a wall at was spray painted earlier this week with words that could be perceived as threatening. 

Painted onto the exterior of a school building were phrases: “I'M GONNA KILL EVERYONE HERE 5-14-12," followed by "OFWGKTA," which is the acronym for Los-Angeles based rap group Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All. 

Several reports state that the leader of the rap group, Tyler, the Creator — whose songs contain violent lyrics such as "kill people, burn s---, f--- school" — is scheduled to release his new album in May.

While authorities believe the graffiti was done on April 1, the taggings were discovered the same morning of at a Christian university in Oakland.

Superintendent of Schools Dave Marken said the school district is looking into the vandalism but trying to not overreact.

“We take everything seriously, but we also take everything with a grain of salt,” said Marken, who added that he has never seen someone “advertise [the date of] a mass killing.”

Other walls and buildings were marked at the same time though none of those taggings were outright threats.

Still, he said the message is not being taken lightly.

“We must define who did it and make sure we protect our staff and students, and that’s crucial,” Marken said.

The graffiti have since been painted over, but police are investigating the incident, said School Resource Officer Aaron Slater of the

“We’re working on finding out who it was, and we’re talking to people about it and getting as much information as we can,” Slater said.

Authorities are continuing to interview students and review surveillance tapes from cameras set up throughout Newark Memorial, Slater said.

Marken said while the defacement included other graffiti messages left throughout the school, not all of the messages spoke of killing.

“It was from rude to crude to a funny face. It ran the gamut,” Marken said.

The symbols and words ranged from the aforementioned message to happy faces on trees, religious crosses, to an image of male genitals, Marken said.

“We hope to find out who did it because it’s timely and costly” to erase the damage, Marken said.

Still, Newark parents expressed worry about the message.

“I think getting this message out to parents is pretty important, even if it turns out to be a ‘fake’ threat,” said one parent who wished to remain anonymous.

While parents said they have yet to be notified by school officials about the graffiti, Marken said school officials and law enforcement agencies do plan to notify the community that the school was targeted with graffiti.

But he emphasized that the graffiti surfaced at numerous locations and is believed to have been left on April Fool’s Day.

Regardless, Marken said he is working with the police department to arrange for more security and strong police presence on the date the graffiti listed.

"There has to be a balance between making people crazy and yet giving them accurate information. ... It all happened on April Fool's Day, but that doesn't mean we don't discount [the threat]," Marken added.

Other locations in the community and other schools in Fremont and the South Bay were also marked up with similar messages,  Marken said.

Det. Bill Veteran with the Fremont Police Department said he was not notified of vandalism occurring at a Fremont school but noted that the department’s school resource officer, who was not available Thursday night, would have more information.

The graffiti at Newark Memorial High occurred during the beginning of what is known as the Holy Week in Christian and Catholic faiths, which marks the end of Lent. During the start of lent, unknown suspects by defacing statues of the holy family and knocking over a cross.

Anyone with information about any crime is asked to contact Newark Police Department's non-emergency line at 510-578-4237 or via the Silent Witness Hotline at 510-578-4000, Ext. 500.

Follow the Newark Police Department at nixle.com.

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Union City Patch Editor Zoneil Maharaj contributed to this report.