Carrboro High School and other nearby schools are on a heightened level of security Tuesday afternoon after hearing the sound of gunshots near or on the Carrboro High campus.

Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools shared an initial alert to the community at 12:22 p.m. saying the high school was locking its doors after bringing all students and staff indoors while local police investigate the gunfire, along the lines of its “Lockdown” protocol. An update at 12:47 p.m. shared that Carrboro High had since moved to “secure mode” alongside the nearby Culbreth Middle School and Franklin Porter Graham Bilingüe Elementary School.

The school district described the scene as a “developing situation,” but said local police reported there was no imminent danger to public safety and “there is no evidence that anyone at or with the school has been hurt.” CHCCS encouraged community members to not visit the school or campus as police investigate and said the district will provide additional guidance to both the Carrboro High and rest of its school community through Tuesday afternoon.

With the move to “secure mode,” all three school campuses will move forward with instruction as best as possible, said the school district’s alert. Any Carrboro High School students who left the grounds and families are being staged at the Town of Carrboro Public Works facility off Smith Level Road until the investigation on or nearby campus is cleared.

Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools’ standard safety protocols on its website define a lockdown as the status where individual rooms are secured and occupants are both kept in place and encouraged to be quiet. That level comes after its “Secure” status, where all students and school personnel get inside and lock outside doors. The district also provides steps for parents and guardians in the event of an emergency, saying it will distribute details and instructions through its email/text/robocall system and social media when possible. Schools may not automatically dismiss students in order to keep them safe in the controlled school setting.

This is a developing story. More information will be added to the story as it becomes available.

Featured photo via the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools district.

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