Police: 3 kids responsible for elementary school vandalism

Port Orange middle school students ages 12, 13 and 14 were identified as suspects in this week’s acts of vandalism that damaged 18 Horizon Elementary School classrooms.

The suspects all live near Horizon Elementary on Hidden Lake Drive, according to the Port Orange Police Department.

Because of the extent of the damage, the suspects face felony counts of burglary and vandalism.

No charges have officially been filed because the case remains open, said Officer Evan Doyle, a Port Orange police spokesman.

Police said they have determined that the suspects burglarized the school “on numerous occasions” during the Marin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend and caused extensive damage to 18 classrooms, displacing more than 300 students when they returned to school Tuesday.

Volusia County Schools is still calculating the total cost of the damage, police said. School district spokeswoman Nancy Wait said no estimate is available because the school is still being cleaned up and an inventory is still being done on damaged, and possibly stolen, equipment.

The property damage included graffiti and flooding, as well as destruction of flooring, carpet, cabinetry, furniture and computers, according to police.

Doyle said the suspects climbed a fence to get onto the property and broke windows to enter the building.

Wait would not identify the students or the school they attend because of student confidentiality laws. She also would not be specific about the disciplinary action taken against the students.

Principal Gary Harms called the matter “a difficult situation.”

Port Orange police also investigated a threat of violence made at Horizon on Wednesday.

Doyle said a 7-year-old student at the school confessed to writing the threat and said it was a prank. It was unrelated to the vandalism.

The student has been suspended, he said, and no charges will be filed.