Lockdown, but no suspect found at Catawba Valley Community College

As Stephanie Snowden and her classmates sat in a darkened classroom on the fifth floor of a building at Catawba Valley Community College on Wednesday, she wondered what she would do if a gunman burst into the room.

“Would we have to get under our desks if he or she comes up here? I don’t know if we can break the windows, being five floors up,” she said.

A gunman was seen earlier in the day on the east campus of CVCC, about a quarter of a mile away from the main campus, prompting both campuses to be locked down.

At 9:20 a.m. a staff member at CVCC’s east campus spotted a white man walking through the parking lot with a handgun, said Hickory Police Chief Tom Adkins. He is between 30 and 40 years old, had long, stringy blond hair and a backpack. That gunman prompted the lockdown of about 5,000 students for several hours while 50 members of law enforcement scoured dozens of acres looking for him. They ended the day empty-handed.

CVCC President Garrett Hinshaw said he doesn’t know why a man would come to either the east or main campus of the college with a gun, or what his motives might be.

“We’ve had no communication from students or staff that anyone threatened them or that someone would bring a gun to campus,” Hinshaw said. “The person who saw this is very shaken. She is absolutely sure she saw a handgun. She and the person made eye contact.”

After the witness contacted campus security, they notified the Catawba County Sheriff’s Office and the Hickory police department. CVCC’s east and main campuses were locked down, with loud speaker notification and alarms inside and out, said Mary Miller, CVCC communications director. A notification was sent to students and staff through email and text blasts, as well as on the school’s website.

Kristi Marlow is a GED instructor on the east campus. She said hearing the announcement to lockdown the school was jarring.

“I heard them come over the system and say, ‘this is not a test,’ and to lockdown the school,” she said. “I knew it had to be a gunman, because that’s what a code red is. It was really scary when I first heard it. But once the door was shut and the police were here, it was fine.”

Hinshaw said the main campus was locked down because there was a possibility the gunman was headed that way.

“We had a report he took off in a diagonal direction toward (main campus),” he said. “There are trails between the two campuses.”

The east campus and main campus of Catawba Valley Community College are on the same side of the road on US 70, SE, about a quarter-of-a-mile apart. They are separated by thick woods. Hinshaw said the trails connected the two schools are rugged.

Hickory police’s Special Operations Team, the Catawba County STAR team and deputies with the sheriff’s office searched the east and main campuses, Adkins said. The east campus was cleared first.

At about 11:40 a.m., law enforcement began releasing the classes at the east campus, with officers escorting a classroom at a time out of the building. Some students came out of the building with their hands in the air.

“They told us to put our hands up and walk out of the room,” said Tracy Goddard, who was in a GED class on the east campus. “I just wanted to go home.”

Marlow said she was able to get some information from other teachers in the building by texting or calling back and forth with each other on their cell phones. An officer came into her room once to check on her class, but told them to stay where they were — something a bit frustrating when they’d already been sitting for so long, she said.

Those on the main campus may have been a bit more antsy than those on the east campus.

The east campus finished evacuation by noon, with the 28 students at the daycare center the last to go. They were taken, hand-in-hand to a skating facility next door. However, the 4,000 people on the main campus remained under lockdown until 3 p.m.

That meant no food, no water and no bathrooms for more than five hours while they waited for word that the school was safe. The final room was evacuated from the main campus at about 3 p.m., after law enforcement had completed its search of buildings totaling 600,000-square-feet, according to school officials.

Snowden was in a nursing class on the top floor of the Cuylar Dunbar “CAD” building when the siren sounded after 10 a.m., saying, “code red, this is not a test.”

“The teacher closed the blinds, locked the door, put desks by the doors,” she said. “We were all texting our friends and family.”

While in the room, Snowden said her thoughts strayed to the children and families who suffered from Columbine High School in Colorado, and the Virginia Tech shooting just a few years ago. When the students in the class heard the gunman was spotted near the daycare on the east campus, Snowden said everyone was concerned for their safety.

After being in the classroom for several hours, some students had to go to the bathroom. Snowden praised the teacher for doing the best she could to make it as private and hygienic as possible given the situation. A trashcan was used, as was sanitary wipes. Food was also distributed to a diabetic person in the class.

Snowden and dozens of others in her class were in the room until about 2:35 p.m., when they were told they could leave. The CAD building was the last to be cleared, according to Hickory police.

When the students were told they could leave, they were greeted by several officers in the building on the way out. There was a K-9 unit, as well.

“It was almost more scary than sitting in the room in the dark,” Snowden said.

K-9 units were sent through the east campus after the school was evacuated, to ensure every part of the 100,000-square-foot facility was examined again, Hinshaw said. The same was done for the main campus.

“This is a very labor-intensive search,” he said.

The college canceled its evening classes for Wednesday. It plans to hold classes as usual on Thursday, but will have seven deputies, in addition to the three it usually has, between its two campuses.

The gunman was not found as of Wednesday evening.