Education

Wake County IDs suspect in threat against Zebulon Middle School on same day two others are locked down

The Wake County Sheriff's Office has filed a juvenile petition against a suspect in the threats made last week against Zebulon Middle School. Investigators made that announcement on the same day that two other Wake County schools saw the school day disrupted by a Code Red lockdown.

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By
Matt Talhelm
, WRAL reporter
RALEIGH, N.C. — The Wake County Sheriff's Office has filed a juvenile petition against a suspect in the threats made last week against Zebulon Middle School. Investigators made that announcement on the same day that two other Wake County schools saw the school day disrupted by a Code Red lockdown.

Because of the suspect's age, no details about his or her identity were released.

The sheriff's office said in a statement, "Considering past incidents, threats of violence at schools must be taken seriously. They are very disruptive to the lives of many in our community. These threats tie up valuable resources while making students, parents and staff feel unsafe in an environment that is meant for learning and growth."

Code Red lockdown at Brentwood Elementary, Southeast Raleigh High

Two lockdowns Wednesday morning brought parents scrambling again to check that their children were safe.

At Brentwood Magnet Elementary School, a Code Red began at 11:16 a.m. "Do not come to campus," the school posted to its website. That lockdown was lifted just before 1 p.m. A school system spokeswoman said no actual threat was found and no one was injured.

A view from Sky 5 showed police cars massed in the school parking area and worried parents standing outside.

According to Wake County Public School System policies, a Code Red lockdown means students are moved to a secure location and all interior doors are locked.

"There’s just too much that we’ve seen go on here in Wake County that you can’t take it as a non-threat," said parent John Scarborough. "I’m exasperated. I really am. I mean, what are our administrators doing? What are our school board members doing?"

Whatever actions school system leaders are taking are not enough for Robert Kinsley, who waited outside Southeast Raleigh Magnet High School, where a Code Red lasted less than an hour.

"What we've been doing, what we're doing now is not working," said Amy Hatley, who arrived at the school to pick up her niece.

The solution to school threats is not clear.

"They do as much as they can," said Anyla Shaw. "Otherwise, if they did it how people would want them to, school would feel like jail. School already feels like jail sometimes."

That's what worries Letha Muhammad.

"The solution has to go back to the human," she said as she picked up her son at Southeast.

Muhammad is also co-director of the Education Justice Alliance in Wake County. She said the schools need more mental health support for students before they turn to threats of violence.

She wondered, "What would it look like if we created a culture and environment that actually helped them have someone to turn to before they make a decision that could potentially be harmful to themselves and other folks in the school with them?"

The lockdown began with the threat of a gun. A spokeswoman for the school system said the lockdown was lifted after it was determined that everyone was safe.

Series of school lockdowns disrupts classes across Wake County

Last Friday, six schools saw classes disrupted by lockdowns.

  • Zebulon Magnet Middle School was the first to enter a Code Red lockdown around 8:30 a.m. Students were eventually dismissed around mid-day.
  • East Millbrook Magnet Middle School entered a Code Red lockdown around 9:33 a.m. The lockdown was lifted at 11 a.m. and students were sent home.
  • At Broughton High School, principal Janiece Dilts said the school was on a Code Yellow lockdown as a precaution as the result of "a threat outside of our building." That locked was lifted around 11:30 a.m.
  • Dillard Drive Middle School, Dillard Drive Elementary School and Oberlin Magnet Middle School entered lockdown around 10:45 a.m. due to security concerns. The lockdown for both schools was lifted 30 minutes later.

No concrete evidence of a weapon or an attacker was found at any of the school locations, and no one was injured.

A sixth grader fired a shot inside a classroom at Fuquay-Varina Middle School in December, breaking a window. That 12-year-old student was served with a juvenile petition, and the gun owner, Seth Lanterman-Schneider, was charged for failing to properly store the gun used in the shooting. It's not clear what the relationship is between Lanterman-Schneider and the student.

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