ALBEMARLE — Stanly Community College has cancelled all classes and activities for today after concerning posts were made on the college’s Facebook page. According to the Albemarle Police Department, someone posted on the college’s Facebook page posts that concerned SCC staff, but no specific threats were made. Albemarle PD located the person that made the posts and interviewed him. No arrests have been made.
A source close to the investigation said that the post causing concern was an image of a firearm.
The school has cancelled all activities — including night classes and activities — for Tuesday, October 24.
SCC President John Enamait released a statement around 1:00 PM saying that he made the decision to cancel classes “out of an abundance of caution.” Enamait confirmed that the concern arose from “a post made on Facebook in which the college was tagged.”
The complete statement from President Enamait:
The college underwent an evacuation earlier today. This was caused by a post made on Facebook in which the college was tagged. Tom George notified ELT once the post was discovered and we began assessing the threat. The decision to close the college and evacuate was made by me out of an abundance of caution and to ensure the safety of our students, faculty, and staff.
Law enforcement was notified shortly after the post was discovered. Both Stanly County Sheriff’s department and Albemarle PD were involved. The person who made the post was located by authorities and was undergoing questioning at my last update.
Based upon information provided by local law enforcement, we believe there is no longer a threat to campus, but will remain closed for the remainder of the day. Normal operations will resume tomorrow. We will be adding additional security as a precaution.
Given the circumstances, the evacuation went well. There were some areas that we will work to improve. Most importantly, everyone is safe.
SCC made the announcement of the cancellations via its Facebook page this morning at 9:41 AM:
Around 10:40 AM, the school updated its Facebook page with more information:
