Student shot at N.C. high school; 15-year-old arrested

WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT/Gray News) - One student was shot and taken to the hospital Monday after gunfire at a North Carolina high school, the sheriff’s office said.

WECT reported a 15-year-old student was taken into custody after the incident at New Hanover High School, according to the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office. He faces charges including attempted first-degree murder and assault with a deadly weapon.

The student who was shot had injuries not believed to be life threatening, Sheriff Ed McMahon said.

Students were taken to a nearby middle school after the shooting, said a spokesperson with the sheriff’s office.

The sheriff’s office said on Twitter that school resource officers searched the school to make sure all students were evacuated.

“Parents will need to pick up their children from the MLK Center once the school has done an accurate headcount,” an earlier tweet from the sheriff’s office stated.

Law enforcement closed a portion of a street near the school.

New Hanover County Schools says that the high school currently is in lockdown. A nearby elementary school and a middle school were “safely under a shelter in place,” and those students also are not being released to families at this time, the school system said in a news release.

Laney High School is under a shelter in place for proactive security reasons, not a specific incident.

“We are asking families and members of the community not to go to the building,” the school system said. “Law enforcement is currently on the scene.”

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