JEFFERSON PARK — A group of teenagers broke into now-vacant St. Cornelius School, spray-painted racist and anti-Semitic graffiti and posted it all on Snapchat, according to a police report obtained by DNAinfo.
Around 8 p.m. on Jan. 27, the youths climbed into the building, 5252 N. Long Ave., through a bathroom window, smashed about 15 computers and painted swastikas alongside messages like "F--- Jews" and "N---- Die," according to the report. The culprits left candy wrappers and bottles of rum and beer behind them.
Police obtained a Snapchat video of one of the suspects, whom a tipster identified as a "former student" now attending a different school, according to the report. One graffiti message made crude mention of "Father Dan," apparently referring to the Rev. Daniel Fallon, the head pastor of St. Cornelius Rectory.
No one was in custody, and an investigation is underway, a police spokesperson said Wednesday.
The Chicago Police Hate Crimes Unit was notified of the break-in, according to the report.
A spokesperson for the Archdiocese of Chicago, which still owns and manages the property, did not respond to a request for comment.
St. Cornelius was one of four Catholic schools to close in 2016, with all the students consolidated into the new St. Francis Global Academy. Chicago Public Schools plan to lease the building and use it as a pre-kindergarten center, starting next year.
Meanwhile, a 31-year-old man was charged with a hate crime Wednesday, after he allegedly smashed the front window of a Downtown synagogue and covered it with swastika stickers.
