Three Clark County teenagers are accused of tagging multiple Keizer, Ore., homes in November with messages threatening a school shooting at McKay High School in Salem, Ore. Investigators determined the threats were not credible.
One of the suspects, 18-year-old Christian Lane Thomas of Vancouver, was cited and released Nov. 17 after detectives found and interviewed him in Camas. He was to appear Dec. 18 in Marion County, Ore., Circuit Court on suspicion of first-degree disorderly conduct and second-degree criminal mischief. However, Thomas failed to appear and a warrant was issued for his arrest, according to a Facebook post on the Keizer Police Department’s page.
As of Monday afternoon, Thomas was not listed as an inmate in the Marion County Jail.
A second suspect, Christopher Bensch, 18, of Vancouver, was also cited and released Dec. 20. He is scheduled to appear Thursday in Marion County Circuit Court on the same alleged crimes, police said.
Investigators also referred the same charges to the Marion County Juvenile Department against a 17-year-old Vancouver boy, after interviewing him Nov. 29.
Shortly before 3:40 a.m. Nov. 15, Keizer police responded to a report of threatening graffiti found painted on the garage doors of at least four residences and a residential fence in the Country Glen neighborhood in North Keizer. A stop sign at the intersection of Jakewood Court Northeast and Horizon Ridge Drive Northeast, as well as a city of Keizer Parks Regulation sign at Country Glen Park were tagged.
Five week investigation
The graffiti stated that there would be a school shooting at McKay High School, with 29 plus dead. It also referenced bombs, gang affiliation and Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. — the scene of a mass shooting, in which 20 children and six school employees were killed Dec. 14, 2012.
After the graffiti was discovered, the Salem-Keizer School District released a statement to students’ families indicating that the threats had impacted multiple schools within the district.
A Keizer police detective and school resource officer spent the next five weeks investigating the incident, which resulted in the Clark County teens being identified as the suspects.
Anyone with information about the whereabouts of Thomas should contact local law enforcement or the Keizer Police Department at 503-390-3713. Tips can also be emailed to Tips@keizer.org. People wishing to report additional information about the threatening graffiti should contact Keizer police Detective Tim Lathrop at 503-856-3481 and reference incident No. 17-4776.
