RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — Across Wake County, parents are frustrated and concerned.
Parents picked their children up early Friday after at least one social media threat prompted code red lockdowns at East Millbrook Magnet Middle School and Zebulon Middle School.
Parents confirmed to CBS 17 that Broughton High and Oberlin Middle Schools were on code yellow lockdowns.
Wednesday, Rolesville High School went on lockdown after a loaded gun was confiscated on campus.
Friday evening, Wake County Public School Board Chair Lindsay Mahaffey addressed concerns.
“We are trying to work with this and learn how we can continue to keep our school a safe space to learn,” said Mahaffey.
Mahaffey said school board members will address safety at the next work session, which is later this month.
“We are going to hear from representatives from Be Smart to talk about safe gun storage at our next board meeting. I hope that families will tune in,” she said.
In a letter to families and staff Friday evening, Mahaffey, along with superintendent Catty Moore, wrote in part:
“We are calling on our community to partner with us to solve this problem. We will be looking at ways to work with local law enforcement agencies to devise better safety measures and with state lawmakers to see how we can strengthen laws that address perpetrators of these criminal acts.”
CBS17 asked Mahaffey how to get disseminate the right information.
After a school district spokeswoman told CBS 17 earlier Friday, “this is the copycat effect when media widely reports threats,” when we asked for information about the lockdowns to possibly help ease the minds of parents.
“I think that’s a great question for all of us to ask. I’m really glad that you’re posing it now. It’s working with law enforcement. We try to make sure that there’s communication given out to parents. It’s a really difficult thing because trying to find that answer is something we’ve been grappling with,” explained Mahaffey.
The Wake County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement that the investigation continues into these threats and their legal consequences for it.
They are also asking parents to keep an eye on what their children are doing online.
