Students Admit To Swastika Drawings

The individuals responsible for team have been found, though it doesn't appear charges will be filed.

Interim Superintendent Richard Burns announced on Thursday afternoon that three students admitted to trespassing in the boys locker in East Hampton High School on Nov. 8 and drawing offensive, racially charged graffiti on a photograph of the boys varsity soccer team.

All three students responsible for drawing the swastikas and sexually graphic images have been suspended from school, according to Burns.  Two students are enrolled in , and the third attends Westhampton Beach High School. 

On Thursday evening, Burns said he wasn't exactly sure if the students would be charged criminally and deferred to the police.

Police Detective Lt. Chris Anderson said earlier on Thursday that the investigation was still ongoing.

Last month he said that the case was not labeled a hate crime despite the use of the swastikas.

When the soccer coach discovered the graffiti on the morning of Nov. 9, it sparked a school investigation that was questioned by some parents of the boys varsity volleyball team, who were fingered as being the only students with access to the locker room after the soccer team practice was over the previous Sunday.

Several parents about not being informed their sons were questioned and that they were done so under the threat that their volleyball playoff game that night was canceled unless those responsible stepped forward.

The were brought into investigate after none of the students came forward on the first day. The team was then allowed to play.

The principals stood by the decision to interview the students last month, saying school policy was followed. However, parents of the volleyball team, which lost its game that night, demanded on an apology.

Burns, in a statement on Thursday announcing the students had been caught, stated that they were not members of the volleyball team. By phone, he added that they were also not members of the soccer team.

"I would like to express my personal regret to the members of the boys’ varsity volleyball team. I know many students and parents were deeply upset about the manner in which the students were questioned in this case," he said. "I would also like to express my compassion to the boys’ varsity soccer team and coaches who were the victims of this disturbing incident."

The volleyball team was given the sportsmanship award from the Suffolk Board of Volleyball Coaches for displaying great sportsmanship throughout the season, according to Athletic Director Joseph Vasile-Cozzo, who sent out a list of the season's awards on Thursday.

Burns did not say how the students got into locker room. The doors to the locker room had previously been thought to have been locked after the volleyball team left. "I will discuss with the board how to shore up security," he said.