June 14, 2001

A Maryland teen-ager accused of using the Internet to threaten two Santee girls after a deadly shooting spree at Santana High School has returned home after posting bail and being released from jail here.

Patrick Andrew Smith, 18, was released after posting $50,000, said Detective Gary Williams of the San Diego Police computer crimes unit. A jury trial is tentatively scheduled for July.

Smith declined comment outside his parents' home late Monday in Walkersville, Md.

He was arrested March 9, brought to San Diego and charged with sending threatening messages to two 15-year-old girls. One of the girls attended Santana. Another student, Charles "Andy" Williams, is accused of killing two students and wounding 13 others March 5.

In one message, Smith is accused of writing, "Don't go to school Friday. I liked you, but I'm finishing what Andy started, and this time it's going to work. Got it? OK?"

Police said there is no evidence that Smith knew Williams, who previously lived in western Maryland. Smith's attorneys have said the teen-ager was joking and suffers from mental problems.