NEW HANOVER COUNTY — A local high school returned to normal operations a little over an hour after a gun threat prompted a lockdown Thursday morning.
Law enforcement were dispatched to New Hanover High School after receiving a 911 call around 9 a.m. reporting an active shooter onsite. NHHS, Williston Middle School, and the International School at Gregory, an elementary school, all went into lockdown as deputies cleared the high school. They found no active shooter and no gun. No injuries were reported.
READ MORE: NHCSO responds to shooter threat at NH High, Williston and Gregory also on lockdown
By 10:45 a.m., the lockdowns were lifted.
Spokespersons with the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office and the Wilmington Police Department could not confirm exactly how many officers were dispatched to the scene. Information on the amount of threats the school has received this year was also unavailable by press; this post will be updated upon response.
Law enforcement believe the call to be a “swatting attempt,” a harassment tactic where someone falsely reports a dangerous situation to trigger emergency intervention.
According to Raleigh’s News and Observer, several schools districts statewide received the same fake 911 calls today, affecting counties including Mecklenburg, Wake, Durham, Alamance and Forsyth.
Lt. Jerry Brewer of NHCSO confirmed calls also went to Cumberland County.
Just two months ago, 400 students were checked out at New Hanover High School due to increased law enforcement presence following a social media gun threat. That threat was not credible either.
In both incidents, parents have expressed concerns with communication from the New Hanover County Schools district. Often, the first information they receive is from their children inside the facility or social media posts made by students or other parents.
Kristin Harrington first found out the school was on lockdown when her daughter called.
“She said, ‘They’ve got big guns,’” Harrington recalled, referring to the police presence on site. “When they say ‘big guns,’ you know it’s something serious.”
New Hanover County Schools spokesperson Russell Clark told Port City Daily before the district sends out a formal notification to parents and guardians, it has to check with law enforcement to obtain accurate information.
“There are a lot of moving parts,” he said. “We have to work with the sheriff’s office and in collaboration with New Hanover County to get that messaging correct and make sure that it’s accurate before we send it, and we’re releasing what the sheriff’s office is letting us release.”
The district first sent a message to parents at 9:26 a.m., according to an email obtained by Port City Daily. It then posted a message on its Facebook page at 9:30 a.m. stating law enforcement was clearing the school and the facility was on lockdown.
It reposted an update from the sheriff’s office at 9:55 a.m., which stated the office believed the call to be a swatting attempt.
At 10:40 a.m., the district reported the lockdown was over.
A followup email sent to parents and obtained by Port City Daily has a timestamp of 10:51 a.m.; one parent shared a phone call that came in 15 minutes later at 11:06 a.m.
Clark said there is a “delay” in information being disseminated through the district’s automated messaging system, which sends out the district’s emails and phone calls. He was not able to provide a time frame on when messages should be received.
“I would say it is situation-based, depending on the severity of the situation and the facts, and also who is the authoritative source of that information,” Clark said.
Due to federal law, the district’s system must send out calls and texts in batches rather than a mass message to potentially thousands of numbers, Clark said. Phone calls are further complicated if the receiver misses the call or it’s blocked due to detected spam.
However, Clark said emails are instant, though not everyone is checking them throughout the day.
Analytics from today’s messages show 72% of phone calls and 90% of emails were delivered on the district’s first message, while the second message was 72% and 82% respectively. However, the second message sent via text failed to deliver to 80% of recipients.
One parent on the scene lives close enough to the school to get cues with or without the district’s communication. The bombardment of blue lights flashing along Market Street where New Hanover High is located tipped off Desmond Davis.
He saw police cars heading toward the campus from his home on Rankin Street, seven or so blocks away from the school. Davis and his wife, who were on their way to breakfast, have a 10th grader who attends NHHS.
“I did what I did last time they had a shooting at the school,” Davis said. “Pulled up, stopped and waited to see what they were going to do.”
At first, he said the scene instilled fear, but eventually realized it wasn’t as serious as he first thought.
“We know whatever it is, it’s probably a minor altercation between two kids,” he said.
Still, Davis was happy local law enforcement responded in force. A few dozen police vehicles were parked in front of the school and blocked off surrounding roads.
“They should have brought out more,” Davis said. “There should be a helicopter.”
Harrington said she held off coming to the school, but all of the social media chatter compelled her otherwise.
“It made me nervous,” she said. “It made me think of the incident that happened last year.”
Harrington was referring to the shooting at the beginning of the 2021-2022 school year. Fifteen-year-old Chance Deablo opened fire and injured another student in the catwalk during an altercation. He was convicted to four years in prison after pleading guilty to the crimes.
Harrington said the school does not have the best safety record, but her daughter is getting a good education there and she does not want to remove her.
Davis said he’s not normally scared when sending his daughter to school daily. “I feel more scared for them when they’re out of school,” he said. “It’s as safe as it’s going to be.”
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