Update ---- Four in custody, one sought after shooting near Eastern Wayne High School
By Ethan Smith
Published in News on September 20, 2017 2:04 PM
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Several patrol cars from the Wayne County Sheriff's Office sit at the intersection of East New Hope Road and Duffy Drive Wednesday with four of the five suspects in custody who were involved in a fight that resulted in a gun being fired. Eastern Wayne high and elementary schools were placed on a temporary lockdown while suspects were being apprehended.
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Four people are in custody and the hunt is on for a possible fifth suspect after a fight ended in shots being fired near Eastern Wayne High School around 12:30 p.m. today.
Maj. Robert Thaxton said the Wayne County Sheriff's Office got a call from someone who saw people fighting in the roadway near the school about two streets down from the campus.
The caller told deputies she saw one of them pull a gun.
Thaxton said authorities do believe the gun was fired, but nobody was shot.
"Two of them took off and were quickly apprehended," Thaxton said. "All four of them were detained and one of them did have a firearm."
Thaxton said one of the suspects also had an active warrant for his or her arrest out of Lenoir County.
The Sheriff's Office helicopter is searching for a potential fifth suspect.
Thaxton said three of the suspects who were detained said it was only four people involved in the fight, while the fourth suspect said a fifth person was involved.
Because of this, law enforcement is searching the area for the possible fifth suspect.
There is currently an early dismissal underway at the high school, but Thaxton said it was already scheduled to happen today regardless of the incident.
Thaxton said Eastern Wayne Elementary School and Eastern Wayne High School were put on lockdown after school resource officers were notified, but the lockdown on the schools has since been lifted.
Ken Dersksen, Wayne County Public Schools spokesperson, said that, due to the controlled release of students, buses might be delayed at Eastern Wayne Elementary, Eastern Wayne Middle, Greenwood Middle and Meadow Lane Elementary because the schools share buses and traffic might become an issue.
Derksen said there were suspicious people who came on to the campus, but they were detained by law enforcement.
Authorities said the altercation did not cross onto the campus' property at any time.
Thaxton said the investigation is ongoing and charges are pending.
---- Staff writer Joey Pitchford contributed to this report