Authorities responded to reports of an active shooter at a North Carolina high school Friday morning, WECT reported. But a county commissioner and the county's emergency director said the noises coming from the Topsail High School campus could have been caused by malfunctioning equipment, the television station reported.
School was not in session at the time, authorities said.
Pender County Commissioner George Brown told WECT that he was not aware of a shooter or whether one has been identified.
Brown told the television station that there is a piece of equipment at the high school that has been malfunctioning in recent days, and when it makes noise it sounds like gunfire.
It is being investigated as a source, WECT reported.
According to Capt. James Rowell of the Pender County Sheriff’s Office, there are no reported injuries as of 7:04 a.m.
According to WWAY, a parent said he received a telephone call from the school district Friday morning. He told the television station that all schools in the eastern part of Pender County were on lockdown. Buses are at Lowe's Foods across from the high school as a staging area, and parents were told they could pick up their children there, WWAY reported.
Helicopters were hovering over the school, WECT reported.
Check back for updates to this developing story
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