Overview
- The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division has launched an investigation into the break-in and extensive damage at Holy Innocents School in Long Beach.
- Staff arriving Monday found the assembly hall, chapel and classrooms ransacked, with a 1958 Virgin Mary statue shattered and the tabernacle ripped from the sanctuary.
- Long Beach police processed the scene, collecting blood, fingerprints and shoe prints, and are pursuing DNA leads, with the FBI notified.
- No arrests or motive have been announced, and officials say evidence suggests multiple perpetrators, with some items apparently staged for theft.
- Student Mass was canceled as volunteers began cleanup and repairs; outlets reported damage around $100,000 and donations surpassing $60,000 as of Tuesday.