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