No Shooter At NC High School, Faulty Equipment To Blame: Reports

HAMPSTEAD, NC — Reports of an active shooter on the roof of a coastal North Carolina high school Friday morning turned out to be false, but instead related to faulty equipment, according to first responders.

“There’s no active shooter,” said Tom Collins, the emergency management director for Pender County, Star News reported. “It’s a malfunctioning water heater.”

Law enforcement had responded to reports of an active shooter at Topsail High School in Pender County near Wilmington earlier Friday morning. Early reports indicated there were no immediate reports of injuries.

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Topsail High School, Topsail Middle School and Topsail Elementary School all are on lockdown, Fox Carolina reported.

The incident, just days after mass shootings in a Pennsylvania synagogue and, more recently, a California bar, comes as the school deals with its own issues of students bringing guns to school. According to the Star News, there have been two incidents of students bringing guns into the school this year, including a male student who brought a semi-automatic rifle. He told officials he did so in a plan to stop a rumored shooter, the newspaper said.

The Pender County School district sent a text stating that buses are being staged at Lowe's Foods across from Topsail Elementary. All staff at Topsail Elementary, Topsail Middle, and Topsail High School should report to Lowe's Foods. Parents who wish to pick up their bus riding student will be able to do so at Lowe's Foods.

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