'South Pasadena Killers' Graffiti Points to Rivals

was tagged with graffiti reading “SPK” and “South Pasadena Killers”—a term associated with San Marino rivals—some time over July 4th weekend, according to Tiger Newspaper Online, South Pasadena High School’s online version of its newspaper.

In addition to the graffiti, “one of the school’s lunch tables was carried across campus and left in a planter directly in front of the library with six spray-painted trash cans stacked in a pyramid [and] a small tree was broken and hoisted onto the flagpole,” said the news source.

While South Pas Detective Richard Lee says no suspects have been identified, Tiger Online reported South Pasadena Killers is a “widely recognized tag for San Marino rivals and an answer to ‘San Marino Killers,’ a phrase South Pasadena extremists adopted years ago.” 

Police Chief Joseph Payne said this type of vandalism occurs in part because school grounds are easily accessed in addition to there being no surveillance cameras on property.  

"There has been a long tradition, criminal as it may be, of vandalism between South Pasadena and San Marino High Schools. Although sometimes expensive to remove or repair, it is usually not permanent or costly," said Payne.

Lee went on to say that the graffiti is always quickly removed. 

"The school is pretty good on cleaning up any graffiti before the students start to arrive, which is good because it denies the suspect any publicity," he said.