Overview:
• The threats were made Thursday morning
• Law enforcement found them to be unfounded
• The public schools and the university later resumed normal activities
Fayetteville State University and a number of Cumberland County public schools were locked down on Thursday following threats that authorities said turned out to be unfounded.
Fayetteville State officials told everyone on campus to shelter and secure themselves due to a potential gunman on campus.
The situation with the county public schools did not involve a threat of a gunman, a spokesperson said. Those schools went on a milder, medium alert lockdown called “Code Yellow” to secure their campuses without disrupting school activities.
A total number and list of the public schools that were on Code Yellow lockdown was not available on Thursday afternoon, the school spokesperson said.
Fayetteville State’s lockdown began after the Cross Creek Early College High School received a bomb threat around 10:36 a.m., Associate Vice Chancellor Chuck McKinnon told CityView. He said the bomb threat “later evolved into an active shooter threat.”
Cross Creek Early College High School is a Cumberland County Schools high school that operates on the FSU campus.
“An investigation of an active shooter on or near campus is currently underway,” said an email sent to the FSU community Thursday morning. “The campus is on lockdown, and all students, faculty, and staff must follow shelter-in-place protocols immediately.”
Students and faculty told CityView they locked themselves in classrooms and offices for safety.
“I’m in class at fsu, we got put on lockdown with dangerous/armed man on campus. Our classroom is currently barricaded with tables,” Fayetteville State student Zach Traylor told CityView via text during the lockdown.
Police cars were seen at the Butler Building, where the Cross Creek high school operates.
The FSU Police Department investigated, McKinnon said, and “officers confirmed there was no active shooter and no ongoing threat to campus.”
An “all clear” was issued at 11:50 a.m., Traylor said. Campus operations returned to normal, McKinnon said.
Meanwhile, some Cumberland County schools in addition to Cross Creek Early College High School received “potential safety concerns” on Thursday, said Associate Superintendent Lindsay A. Whitley, a schools spokesperson. He declined to describe the nature of these safety concerns.
“Several schools have been placed on Code Yellow as a precaution while law enforcement and district officials investigate,” he said.
“After consulting with law enforcement, the threats have been deemed not credible and are believed to be part of a possible hoax,” Whitley said later on Thursday, and the Code Yellow alerts ended.
According to a Cumberland County Schools document, the school system has two levels of lockdown: Code Yellow and Code Red.
“A code yellow lockdown is a medium alert status used when there is a possible threat to the student body, but not in the immediate area,” the document says.
“Code yellow calls for locking of exterior doors to require escorted entry/exit of the building, supervised movement within the building, supervised movement of students outside the building and vigilant observation,” it says.
The document describes a Code Red lockdown as “a high alert status used when there is immediate danger in your school or on the property,” such as an armed, unauthorized person on campus.
Senior reporter Paul Woolverton can be reached at pwoolverton@cityviewnc.com.
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