Multiple Muscogee County schools on lockdown amid police investigation. Here’s more.
Four Columbus schools were placed on a lockdown Thursday morning after they were notified police were chasing two suspects running from a stolen vehicle.
Muscogee County School District communications director Mercedes Parham said in a news release at 10:47 a.m., “The District has received notification of a security measure that has been enacted as a safety precaution at three school sites: Northside High, Veterans Memorial Middle, and North Columbus Elementary schools.
“The perimeters of each school have been secured due to the sighting of two suspects, who have been involved in a non-school related incident, within the vicinity of the school locations. There have been no injuries or school-related incidents reported regarding this matter.”
Those schools are adjacent to each other on a campus off Veterans Parkway.
About 1 1/2 miles away, Calvary Christian School also was placed on a lockdown around 10:40 a.m., Michael McCoy, the school’s marketing and communications specialist, told the Ledger-Enquirer.
By 11:30 a.m., the MCSD lockdowns were finished. The Calvary Christian lockdown was also lifted.
“The safety measure enacted to secure the perimeters of three District school sites has now been lifted,” Parham said in a subsequent news release. “Northside High, Veterans Memorial Middle, and North Columbus Elementary schools have all resumed regularly scheduled activities. “
At 1:22 p.m., McCoy emailed a news release with more details from Calvary.
“CCS went into an increased security awareness, which required all movement to be within our security parameters. Parents and students were notified not to come onto campus, while the Police investigated off-campus activity in the area. The Columbus Police Department contained the incident,” McCoy said. “At approximately 11:44 a.m., the lockdown was lifted, and we were able to resume normal operations.”
Thursday afternoon, Columbus Police Department assistant chief Gil Slouchick told the L-E that three officers responded to a call about a stolen vehicle that crossed the Chattahoochee River from Phenix City. The driver of the vehicle was taken into custody after being found in the bushes at Northside High School, he said, and the passenger got away.
No weapons were found, Slouchick said.
Staff writer Joshua Mixon contributed to this report.
This story was originally published January 30, 2020 at 10:57 AM.
