Crime Stoppers exclusive: Photos show threatening messages painted outside Pius XI High School
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- More than a week after someone painted threats on Pius XI High School in Milwaukee forced the school to close parents, students and staff members still don't know who did it or why.
Milwaukee police do have "persons of interest" in mind but haven't made any arrests.
After a meeting this week with Pius parents and staff members, investigators are turning to Milwaukee Crime Stoppers for help.
On Monday, Nov. 4, staff members at the high school walked up to messages in white paint threatening to bring a gun to school to kill everyone and murder children.
"This is kind of a special case that we normally don't do a Crime Stoppers on, but it's terrorist activity," says Detective Tony Castro, with the Milwaukee Police Department.
The activity started a little after midnight where the suspect thought he'd outsmarted Milwaukee police by covering up cameras at the front entrance.
"They were quick to paint over the main doorbell light of the main office that has the ground level camera," said Castro. "We see him approach the door before painting, then he brings the paint can out he paints over the lens. But he only covers up one camera in that process."
After gathering surveillance video from campus, nearby homes and businesses, detective Castro shared them exclusively with CBS 58.
PHOTO GALLERY
"What we know based on the video is that he is a Black male about 6 feet tall. He's thin and may have long hair under the mask. He had a zip-up hooded sweatshirt, grey sweatpants, black boots and he was wearing gloves. He was on a black mountain bike, specific mountain bike with a light attachment on it," says Castro. "Just one guy on a bike and he has an orange-covered ski mask and he's on a bike and he has a backpack and about a half-gallon of paint and a brush and proceeds to throw paint everywhere and write messages."
However, the suspect made another mistake by writing a personal message about a Pius staff member, which CBS 58 blurred for their safety.
"Murdering kids and bringing guns would alert anyone but the fact that the particular individual stated a name of a staff member and mentioned their daughter brings this issue to even more seriousness because of the specificity of the threat," says Castro.
That's helped detectives narrow down possible suspects to a few. However, now they need more info from you, like a name, to make an arrest.
"If it happens to one school, it could affect other schools and if someone knows something or knows someone that knows something, go through Crime Stoppers keep it anonymous let us know the information and we will take it from there," says Castro.
The Milwaukee Police Department says Pius has had two other threats; one where a bathroom stall was vandalized but they are investigating them separately until they know that they are related.
Students returned to classes on Tuesday Nov. 12 after nearly a week off for safety precautions. They now have metal detectors and armed security on campus.
If you know anything about this incident, call Milwaukee Crime Stoppers at 414-224-8477. You can also use the P3 tips app. Both ways are always anonymous. No one will ever know who you are. When you call, your number is scrambled, routed to an out of state answering service and you receive a tip number. After you leave your tip, the only way to get your reward is to call back and submit that number. If your tip leads to an arrest, you get a cash reward.