High School, College Closed After Suspicious Package Found

SANFORD, N.C. — A community college and a high school were shut down part of Monday after a suspicious package with a threatening note was found, officials said.

The package was found Monday morning at the Crescent State Bank branch on 870 Spring Lane. The bank was evacuated, and several members of a bomb squad from Fort Bragg were called in to help Sanford police handle the situation, officials said.

The package was disposed of, and employees were allowed to return to the bank before 11 a.m., officials said.

A note found with the package named Lee County High School and Central Carolina Community College and threatened violence against them, officials said.

School administrators and Sanford police searched the Lee County High campus, and students there were being dismissed at 12:30 p.m. as a precaution, said Sharon Spence, spokeswoman for Lee County Schools. All other area schools were on a regular schedule, she said.

Students attending classes at Central Carolina as part of the Lee Early College High School also were dismissed early, and officials ordered that the entire college campus be evacuated between 2 and 5 p.m.