(Cleveland)- Three White County schools were placed on “Soft Lockdown” Tuesday morning, for what school officials say was a suspicious person in the area. Superintendent Dr. Jeff Wilson said, around 10 AM they were notified about a possible suspicious person near the 9th Grade Academy, located in Cleveland. Wilson said, just as a precaution, they placed that school along with the White County Middle School and Jack P. Nix Primary School, which are located nearby, on soft lockdown.
He described a soft lockdown as where students and administrators are kept inside the school, but classes continue as usual.
Dr. Wilson said, Cleveland Police and Sheriff Department officers patrolled the area but were not able to locate the suspicious person which had prompted the precautionary measure. The schools remained in the soft lockdown mode until the end of the school day, said Wilson.
Cleveland Police Chief John Foster said, they were notified about a man who parked his vehicle near the school and walked into the woods. He said officers were not able to locate him, but he later came out of the woods and left the area.
Chief Foster said, after doing a license check on the vehicle, they know who it was and will be doing a follow up to find out what he was doing in the area. “ It could turn out that he had a legitimate reason for being in the area, said Foster.
