Lockdowns, closings highlight school day in EC
By ZAC GOLDSTEIN
Staff Writer Daily Advance
Friday, April 27, 2007
School officials placed Pasquotank and P.W. Moore elementary schools on lockdown early this afternoon after gunshots were fired nearby. The lockdowns followed the closings of three schools earlier Friday after Superintendent Tony Stewart received an anonymous tip warning of school violence.Pasquotank and P.W. Moore were locked down as a precaution after reports of gunshots and a police chase in the Debry section of the city. The schools were locked down at 1 p.m. and Pasquotank County emergency management officials issued an ?all clear? at 1:38 p.m. Regardless of the all clear, the schools remained in lock-down until approximately 2:30 p.m. when students were released at their normally scheduled time as a precaution, school officials said.?People are paying attention,? said Amie Aydlett, the school district?s community schools director. ?They know they have to take safety seriously.?According to reports, police were searching for a suspect after Pasquotank Elementary personnel reported seeing someone run across the school?s playground toward the Meadowlands area of the city.Friday morning, Stewart ordered Elizabeth City Middle School, Pasquotank County High School and Northside Elementary closed for the day after he received an anonymous call Thursday that warned of a possible shooting Friday at ECMS.Also Friday, Central Elementary and Northeastern High School were locked down for less than an hour. Aydlett said school personnel heard what sounded like gunfire coming from the swamp area between the schools about 8:45 a.m. The schools were locked down while the sheriff?s department investigated and parents were notified at 9:30 a.m.After an investigation, the source of the shooting was revealed to be an unidentified local resident with a federal permit to rid her pond of surplus ducks and geese. No one was harmed and the schools resumed normal operations for the rest of the day.The shooting threat was the second Stewart has received in as many weeks. A call he received April 20 warned that a shooting would take place at 1 p.m. that day at ECMS and all three schools were locked down. No shooting took place and an investigation did not turn up a weapon at any school.The shooting threat that Stewart received Thursday is being investigated by the Pasquotank County Sheriff?s Department. The sheriff?s department is also offering a $2,000 reward for information related to the recent threats.
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