*Juliet Mullins also contributed to this story*

Nov. 4– Police have identified the culprit who harassed the football team Nov 3, ending a frightening day of threats and verbal abuse. Principal Alan Goodwin sent out an email over Whitnet noting that the boy was caught.

“Today, after a strong collaborative effort by the school staff, Bethesda police, and MCPS security, a ‘person of interest’ was identified, and I received a call from the police this evening that he is no longer a danger to the community,” the message read.

During a regular team practice, this unidentified individual shouted racial slurs, verbally abused several players and threw rocks at the football team. Parent Natalie Atkinson, head coach Jim Kuhn and a number of players received threatening emails and Facebook messages later that evening.

The school took precautions to ensure that students and players were safe. Extra police were at the school Wednesday morning, and the team practiced on the fenced in baseball field. Officers were also stationed at the field.

The boy was approximately six feet tall, with a blonde buzz cut, wearing a white T-shirt and riding a gold bike around the back and upper fields of Whitman.

This unidentified person sent threatening and insulting messages to as many as 20 players, telling them to “watch their backs” and using racial slurs and anti-Semitic insults.

At Tuesday’s practice, sophomore Jeff Schaeffer was hit in the stomach with a rock and another one barely missed teammate Michael Flack’s head.

“When we were stretching all of a sudden, rocks were coming down on us,” Flack said. “I was definitely scared; I thought he was going to come back with a gun.”

Assistant coach John Floyd pursued the boy into the woods as he continued to shout racial epithets and insult the team. A neighbor heard the boy verbally assaulting Floyd from her house and came outside threatening to call the police. The boy then fled on his bicycle.

Kuhn sent out an email to the team, asking them to not respond to this person if he directly contacted any of them and to just forward any messages to him. Junior Ryan Slayen also received a Facebook message which was filled with racial slurs and threats.

“I was kind of scared,” Slayen said. “But I wasn’t really sure if it was a real guy or if it was fake and then I heard that other people got them and took it seriously.”