Greenville PD: Man charged for entering school, claiming he was running from gunfire

GREENVILLE, S.C. (FOX Carolina) - The Greenville Police Department and the Greenville County Sheriff’s are investigating after a man claimed he was being shot at and ran into a school on Monday.

The Greenville Police Department said the man, Robert Washington, jumped over the fence at Legacy Charter and told students and faculty who were outside for recess that he was being shot at by someone.

He did not have injuries, police said.

The situation created “mild panic” according to the police department, and everyone rushed to the door to get inside the school. Police said the man also made his way inside the school.

He was ushered away from students by faculty and later found by police in the cafeteria. He was later charged with Disturbing Schools and Filing a false police report of Felony Violation. They added that he did not have a firearm with him during the incident.

Sgt. Bragg said students were on campus for summer school.

Yolanda Hunter’s nine-year-old daughter was at the school when everything unfolded.

Hunter wants to know how Washington was able to get inside the building.

“I’m still upset because there’s no excuse for this man to get into the school. We need the best security at the school for these children,” she said.

On Monday night, Legacy Early College posted about the incident on Facebook.

“Earlier today an incident happened at our elementary school. Thankfully no one was harmed during this incident, and local law enforcement and our private security responded swiftly to the situation.

At Legacy Early College, our primary concern is keeping our scholars safe, so that they can experience an exceptional educational environment and fulfill their academic potential. With this focus in mind, today we followed our lockdown procedures with integrity and ensured each scholar was accounted for and safe after this incident. After guidance from local law enforcement, and after accounting for each of our scholars, we communicated to our families through the “All Call” system.

Legacy will resume classes tomorrow, July 12th, and will proceed to operate on the standard summer schedule. Out of an abundance of caution we will increase our police and safety presence at the elementary school. Along with addressing this safety concern, we will also be providing onsite counseling services to all of our scholars.”

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