Manhunt turns up no leads
By Ethan Smith
Published in News on March 29, 2017 10:17 AM
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Outside of a suspicious person report that sent Northwest Elementary School in Pikeville into a soft lockdown Tuesday, authorities developed no new leads in the second day of an ongoing manhunt.
As the manhunt enters its third day, officials said the elementary school will continue to operate under a soft lockdown for the first few hours of the school day today.
The man authorities are searching for is wanted after he fled when law enforcement tried to stop him in a car that belongs to a man reported missing out of Raleigh earlier this month.
Authorities initially said the man who fled the stop was connected to a shooting at the Speedway at 1501 U.S. 70 West Monday, but it might not be so.
Maj. Anthony Carmon, head of the Goldsboro Police Department's Investigative Services Bureau, said authorities are actually not sure if the man who shot at someone at the gas station is the same one who fled the traffic stop.
This conflicts with the initial information given by authorities, who said it was the same man.
"At this point he is only a person of interest," Carmon said.
Authorities were also warning residents Monday that the man should be considered armed and dangerous.
But Carmon said this morning police have "no reason to believe he is armed."
This is not because of a new development in the case, Carmon said.
"There is no new information," Carmon said. "Nothing has changed."
Carmon said the initial warning of the man being armed and dangerous could have been broadcast as a precautionary measure.
He also confirmed that the same car used during the attempted robbery and shooting at the gas station was the same car that fled from law enforcement, but said authorities cannot confirm if it was the same person despite initial reports.
The man first eluded authorities when he fled an attempted traffic stop Monday and crashed a red Ford Taurus registered to a missing 22-year-old Justice Courtney Lyons from Raleigh and ran away.
Then, law enforcement got a call around 10 p.m. Monday from a resident who said they saw a suspicious person in the area of Claridge Nursery Road.
Deputies thought they heard a person running through the woods and saw footprints, but could not find anybody.
Maj. Tom Effler with the Wayne County Sheriff's Office said authorities received no new leads in the case Tuesday.
Goldsboro Police Chief Mike West confirmed that police have little new information to work with.
Carmon, Effler and West all said they could not confirm if the man who ran from the law is the man reported missing out of Raleigh.
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Lyons was reported missing on March 19 by his mother, Wendy Lyons.
Authorities do not know if the man involved in the shooting -- or the man who is fleeing from law enforcement -- is the man reported missing out of Raleigh.
Ms. Lyons said when reached by phone Tuesday afternoon that she threw him out of the house the two were living in on March 12.
"I have a one bedroom and you know I suspected he was into drugs and everything, doing them -- I just suspected he was intaking more than he was trying to make money," Ms. Lyons said.
She said the last time she saw his car -- the red Ford Taurus connected to the gas station shooting that someone wrecked mid-chase -- was on March 14.
Then, she saw him in a video on Facebook smoking marijuana with a few guys in a car.
"He was just smoking that crazy weed with some ol' boys in an SUV," Ms. Lyons said.
She did not know where that video was recorded.
Ms. Lyons said she reported him missing on March 19 -- a week after she threw him out -- because it was his daughter's second birthday.
He did not call.
He did not show up.
His mother got worried.
"His attitude started changing," Ms. Lyons said. "He started talking to me very disrespectful, and I'm in a one bedroom, and I'm not (fixing to) sit on pins and needles. I've been through too much for my children."
She said she is not sure if he actually knew anybody in Goldsboro, and that most of his friends live in Raleigh.
Law enforcement has said he does have a few acquaintances here.
Ms. Lyons said her son is between 5 foot 9 inches and 5 foot 11 inches tall, has brown eyes, is fairly light skinned and dreadlocks down to his elbows.
Law enforcement said the man who fled the wrecked vehicle that belongs to Justice is 5 foot 9 inches tall and has a shaved head.
Ms. Lyons said she would not be surprised if her son shaved his head after going missing.
"I just hope they get him and keep him alive," Ms. Lyons said. "I know he got to do what he got to do, but if he makes the bed he's got to sleep in it. I just hope he ain't dead nowhere."
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Wayne County Public Schools' Director of Communication Services Ken Derksen said Northwest Elementary School went into a soft lockdown around 9 a.m. Tuesday morning.
That soft lockdown continued this morning and Derksen said it would continue "for a few hours."
Derksen said the decision to continue the soft lockdown was made by the school system, and not because law enforcement believes the students or campus are in any danger.
The lockdown Tuesday lasted the duration of the day and was prompted by a report of a suspicious person within a mile of the school.
The soft lockdown meant the doors to the school were locked, a deputy was staged on campus, instruction continued and children went to and from classes.
Derksen said school dismissed on schedule, but dismissal was "tiered," with different groups being released at different times.
"It allowed for a little bit more of a controlled dismissal," Derksen said.
No extra law enforcement was called to the scene to aid in the dismissal.
Derksen said with the soft lockdown continuing today, there will be no recess or outdoor activities for its duration, but instruction inside the school will continue.