By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Chief Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net 

CRUEL thieves broke into the Centre for the Deaf school early yesterday morning, breaking windows, stealing children’s learning devices and making off with the school bus before crashing and abandoning it on Ross Corner.

Education Director Dominique McCartney-Russell said the culprits also damaged the school’s fencing during the break-in around 12.25am.

She said security officers made the grim discovery while conducting routine checks, first noticing the missing bus.

In a statement yesterday, police said the bus was recovered after it collided with a wall and confirmed that a manhunt is underway for the suspects.

Mrs McCartney-Russell could not estimate the cost of the damages but said all stolen items would be replaced.

When The Tribune visited the site yesterday afternoon, repairs to the fence were already underway.

“We definitely have to repair the fencing,” the education director said. “We have to replace those tablets, because based on the pictures that he sent to me, they actually went into the storage area for those tablets so the window will have to be repaired. The fencing looks mangled like they use the bus to go through.”

Despite the break-in, Mrs McCartney-Russell said school operations continued as normal. Students were taught in another building and received support from the school’s guidance counsellor.

The Centre for the Deaf, founded by the Red Cross in partnership with the Ministry of Education, has about 22 students enrolled and around 11 staff members.

Mrs McCartney-Russell said security teams have recommended that the ministry increase mobile patrols and provide additional security officer support in light of the incident.