A felon wearing body armor, initially reported as an active shooter, near a North Carolina community college prompted the campus to go into lockdown.
The Jackson campus of Southwestern Community College in Sylva went into ‘an immediate lockdown’ on Tuesday morning, reported. Police were seeking to arrest a felon on the loose donning body armor, according to the school.
In an alert sent shortly before 10.30am, the school advised staff to secure students in the building and lock classroom and office doors. The lockdown was to be in effect until administration or law enforcement officials called the situation clear.
The school provided an update at 11.05am stating that its latest information indicated ‘that this is not an active shooter situation at this time’.
‘Law enforcement officials tell us believe they are close to apprehending a felon who is on the loose. The subject initially fled to a wooded area behind Lowe’s,’ the school stated. ‘We will send another update within 15 minutes.’
The lockdown was lifted around noon.
Sylva, where the school’s Jackson campus is located, is in Jackson County in the western part of the state.
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