Break-in at Warren High targets band program
DOWNEY – The students and staff of the Warren High School Band program were shocked to find their music room broken into and several instruments stolen earlier this week.
The break-in occurred sometime between Monday evening and the early morning hours on Tuesday. The instruments stolen varied from District owned, Booster purchased, and personally owned.
Downey Unified School District declined to release too much specific information in order to preserve the integrity of the ongoing investigation, and in an effort to not further disrupt the individuals involved, has also opted not to host on-site interviews of students or staff for media.
Instead, DUSD released an official statement, saying:
“First, we want to thank the community and the media for the outpouring of support….We are working collaboratively with police to apprehend the individual or individuals that perpetrated this awful crime…We are confident that our outstanding police department will soon apprehend these criminals and, as a district, we will support prosecuting them to the full extent of the law. In the meantime, Downey Unified is committed to replacing the items stolen and/or damaged. In light of these recent events, the District is taking multiple preventative steps districtwide to curtail any future incidents.”
Downey Police also declined to release any information.
A GoFundMe page was set up in response to the thefts by one of the music program’s senior students. The page has already begun circulating social media thanks to several community members, many of which are Warren alumni who were band and color guard members.
According to the senior’s GoFundMe campaign, several school laptops were stolen in addition to the in instruments, however this has not been officially confirmed.
The post also noted that eggs had been cracked/thrown at several instruments including a piano and a bass. This was verified by DUSD, however the instruments suffered no serious damage and were wiped clean and are fully functional.
Band Director Dave Niemeyer also released a statement, saying:
“…Downey and DUSD is an amazing community. It is unfortunate that people make ill choices. Everyone is fine, we are still rehearsing and moving forward head strong. Please spread positive words, because Warren High School is a terrific school filled with terrific teachers, administrators and students. Let’s not make this a negative. Please know that everything that can possibly be done is being done and everyone from the very top of the district on down is involved with making things come out right.”
The Warren Band is continually active throughout the year in both fundraising and performances, and are scheduled to perform multiple times within the coming weeks, including at their annual spring concert. It is unknown how drastically the recent events will affect those appearances, if at all.