Advertisement

Noise from broken heater mistakenly caused active shooter alert at NC high school: official

Police investigate reports of an active shooter at Topsail High School in North Carolina. But the sound of a gun shot turned out to just be a malfunctioning water heater, officials said.
Police investigate reports of an active shooter at Topsail High School in North Carolina. But the sound of a gun shot turned out to just be a malfunctioning water heater, officials said.

Reports of an active shooter at a North Carolina high school Friday morning were caused by the sound of a malfunctioning water heater, according to an official.

“There’s no active shooter,” county emergency management director Tom Collins told Star News. “It’s a malfunctioning water heater.”

He said the sound of the water heater popping sounded like an “AR-15 [semiautomatic rifle] going off.”

But the reports of the sound promoted a school lockdown and a massive police presence at Topsail High School, located in Pender County.

Story continues below advertisement

Around 6:30 a.m., police received reports of a possible active shooter on scene.

The parent of a child who attends Topsail High School told WWAY that he received a call from the school district telling him all schools on the eastern side of Pender County were lockdown.

Breaking news from Canada and around the world sent to your email, as it happens.

The high school is in the town of town of Hampstead and part of Pender County, around 177 kilometres southeast of the North Carolina’s capital, Raleigh.

More to come

Sponsored content

AdChoices