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An “active shooter situation” is under way at a community college in North Carolina, with students plunged into lockdown and two shooters currently at large.
Winston-Salem Police said that officers responded to reports of a shooting on the main campus of Forsyth Tech Community College in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, at 10.10am on Thursday morning.
The shooting is believed to have taken place at the Strickland Center.
Forsyth Tech sent an “active shooter” alert at around 11.30am urging students, staff and faculty members to shelter in place.
“We are experiencing an active shooter situation. Law enforcement is on site. The campus is on lockdown with shelter in place for all students, faculty and staff,” the alert said.
It is currently unclear if there are any injuries or fatalities.
Two male suspects remain at large with law enforcement on the scene trying to track down their whereabouts.
The suspects are described as armed and dressed in gray and black hoodies, reported WXII12.
Drones have been sent up into the air in the search for the armed suspects and nearby schools are also sheltering in place.
Darius Taylor, a student at Forsyth Tech, told Fox8 that he was in a studio on the first floor of the Strickland Center when shots were fired.
He said that he received an alert from the school and officials quickly arrived to escort students to a safe location outside of the police perimeter.
“It’s just something you don’t expect” said Taylor.
“The look of sheer terror on my professor’s face when he told us there was an active shooter alert is something I can’t erase from my mind.”
The shooting unfolded at a time when students from Stokes County Schools were on a field trip at the college campus.
The school superintendent has confirmed that all Stokes County students are unharmed.
“While I do not have all of the details, I can confirm there were Stokes County Schools students on Forsyth Tech’s campus at the time of the shooting. All Students have been accounted for and are safe,” the superintendent said in a statement.
“Stokes County district administration and school staff are on site and have confirmed sixteen students from West Stokes, 14 students from South Stokes, and one student from North Stokes were on campus and are being held there by law enforcement. The main bus from North Stokes had not arrived yet and that bus was re-routed back to North Stokes.
“As soon as our students are released, they will come directly back to their school campuses.
“This is still an ongoing investigation, and more information will be made available in the coming hours. Again, there were students from Stokes County Schools on a field trip to Forsyth Tech during the shooting; however, all students and staff who were on these field trips have been accounted for and are safe.
“We do not anticipate there is a threat to any of our schools in Stokes County at this time; however, we have been in contact with our local law enforcement and will be providing extra security to our school’s this afternoon.”
