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An incident at a North Carolina high school is under investigation after someone hung a black teddy bear by a noose as a “prank.”
On Tuesday morning, Wakefield High School students were greeted by the macabre sight of the hanging bear along with a sign reading, “Make Wakefield TRIPP again #smartlunch.” The sign referenced the previous principal, who left in 2015, as well as an hour-long lunch period that was no longer school policy. The black bear also appeared to be holding an empty liquor bottle.
Although the bear was removed quickly, staff and students still saw it and were able to get a picture, which started to circulate on social media.
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“Let me be clear: This was an offensive act that has no place in our school,” said Principal Malik Bazzell. “The imagery is deeply offensive and everyone in our school community should be appalled.”
In a letter to the Wakefield High School community, Bazzell said that the school’s stadium and baseball field had also been vandalized.
Bazzell said that the school would be pursuing criminal charges and that they were working with Wake Country Public School System security for the investigation.
“This act might have been done as part of an annual tradition of senior pranks,” Bazzell said. “It is in no way funny. It is not a prank.”
