Teacher, school employee, neighbors describe fear as shots were fired outside Raleigh middle school Monday
In calls to 911, a teacher and another employee at Ligon Magnet Middle School were among those who described the terror of shots fired on Monday morning.
"There’s a boy in the middle of the street shooting his gun," one caller said. "I work at the school. I was about to turn on the road and he shot at my car."
The audio from a dozen 911 calls was released Wednesday.
Police said a man fired five gunshots at Raleigh officers and others on Monday morning in the 700 block of Cumberland Street near Rock Quarry Road. Officers returned fire and killed the man. No one else was hurt in the exchange.
But neighbors, teachers, school staff and parents were left shaken.
At least one of those who called 911 identified as a teacher.
"There’s a man with a gun on Houston Street near Ligon Middle School. He's pointing his gun at teacher’s cars," the caller said. "He’s pointing his gun at teacher’s cars as they drive by."
A resident of the neighborhood told dispatchers, "I look out my back door. I see the active shooter walking in the middle of the street going toward the Martin Luther King Boulevard. I have not stepped outside. I’m too scared to even go outside."
Other callers described the man's apparel to dispatchers.
"The guy is walking up on Page Street with a white wife beater, hat turned to the back and he has on jeans," the person said.
Raleigh Police Chief Estella Patterson said the shooter hit at least two civilian vehicles and two police vehicles. She said the shooter's impact "spanned several blocks, endangering many lives."
Gary Duvall, principal of Ligon Magnet Middle School, said the school went into a code yellow lockdown at 7 a.m. after a shooting was reported nearby, and no one was allowed to enter or exit the school building. Students and staff who were still making their way to campus at the time were allowed to enter, and school district spokeswoman Lisa Luten said they were not near the site of the shots.
