Police released these images containing handwriting. Photo: Supplied / SA Police
Police investigating allegedly violent threats against an Adelaide high school have released a series of clues they say could help identify the perpetrator, three months after charges against a teenager were dropped.
Glenunga International High School (GIHS) had been subjected to "threatening emails for almost a year", according to police, who today revealed the individual making the threats had used the online alias "Brian Cole".
One of the images released by police contained common pantry condiments with a handwritten note. Photo: Supplied / SA Police
The threats prompted a security presence at the school.
SA Police Deputy Commissioner Linda Williams today appealed directly to the school community, as well as the broader public, and released "key details" about the investigation "in the hope that a staff member, student, or parent may have information".
The new details include bizarre images believed to contain examples of the individual's handwriting.
In one, a spider was "incorporated into the GIHS logo" and another depicted the "logo constructed of the spiders' broken legs", while a third included "two common pantry condiments - maple syrup and honey - pictured with a handwritten note".
An 18-year-old was charged in May over alleged threats to use explosives and food poisons to target the school and public events in Adelaide - but the prosecution later unexpectedly withdrew all charges against him.
Asked whether that individual remained a suspect, the deputy commissioner replied: "All lines of enquiry are still open to us - we'll follow the evidence as to where that takes us".
The deputy commissioner said police did not have information to confirm or rule out the possibility that the person making the threats was a current or former student.
"They do seem to have some strong links to the school, but it's not certain," she said.
Other details released today by police include information about the computer habits of the person making the threats and about the computer from which threats had been sent, as well as phrases used in the threatening emails.
"There's a strong possibility that someone may be able to recognise from the language used here or the images something in their mind that they may be able to associate with a person," Deputy Commissioner Williams said.
"The individual has made recurring spelling and grammar mistakes that someone may recognise."
According to police, they include the word "don't" spelled without an apostrophe and the word "email" always spelled with a capital "E", as well as the spelling "Clemydia".
One example included a sentence beginning: "And dont go near glenunga and never say anything to that person".
Other key words and phrases include: "Auspicious", "Aura", "High committee", "High up ones", "Forsaken hero", "Steal the souls", "That person is stupid", "Primary stronghold of the corruption", "Pay attention if another signature is knocking on you" and "I have spells which are just for the hero".
Police believe the person using the alias "Brian Cole" had access to a shared computer between 19 November 2024, and 13 May this year, and "was using the computer most evenings after 9pm".
Between February and May, the "suspect used the computer almost every weeknight and had to wait for others to finish using the computer".
Police believe the individual in question either moved or had another change in living circumstances around 13 May "which resulted in reduced access" to the computer, but had since returned to using it.
They said the computer had the gaming platform Steam and the game Black Myth: Wukong.
Deputy Commissioner Williams said there had not been any recent threats but the "incredibly dynamic investigation" was ongoing.
"If anyone recognises the information, images, key words or phrases, or they prompt a memory about a person or a person's behaviour … I'd urge them to contact Crime Stoppers," she said.
Police Minister Blair Boyer said he did not want the threats "hanging over the school community's head".
"It has been a very difficult time for the Glenunga International High School community," he said.
"We would like to get to a resolution here, find who is doing it so it can be stopped."
- ABC News
