School placed on lockdown after nearby shooting
Published 6:45 pm Friday, May 10, 2019
A non-fatal shooting on Pierce Street in Washington placed the Beaufort County Ed Tech Center on a modified lockdown Friday afternoon. The victim of the shooting had no relation to the school.
According to Washington Police and Fire Services Director Stacy Drakeford, the Washington Police Department received a call at 12:47 p.m. regarding shots fired in the vicinity of Pierce Street.
About 10 minutes later, Drakeford said his agency received a call from Vidant Beaufort Hospital that a man had checked himself in with a gunshot wound to the leg. The victim, who has not been identified, was dropped off at the hospital by a second person and has refused to identify the person who shot him.
“He’s not cooperating,” Drakeford said. “What we have gathered so far is that there was going to be a fight and the next thing, there were gun shots.”
Beaufort County Schools Superintendent Matthew Cheeseman confirmed the modified lockdown, saying that interruption was minimal and students were released from school at the normal hour.
“Local law enforcement helped our principal, (Victoria) Hamill, decide to be on a modified lockdown, which meant that nobody leaves campus and nobody comes on to campus, but they kept the teaching and learning process moving on.”
The WPD investigation into the shooting continued into Friday afternoon.