Police will heighten security at 3 Chapel Hill schools on Tuesday after reported threat

Police will have a stronger presence at three Chapel Hill schools on Tuesday, after four young students reported that a man threatened the high school.

Seawell Elementary, Smith Middle and Chapel Hill High will have officers stationed there Tuesday as a precautionary measure to heighten security, said police spokesman Ran Northam. The schools are next to each other off of Seawell School Road.

The Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools system said a small group of girls, younger than 10 years in age, reported being approached by a man Monday while on a walking trail behind the three schools.

The girls said the man, wearing a camouflage backpack, said he was going to do harm at Chapel Hill High on Tuesday, according to the school district.

Chapel Hill High School principal Sulura Jackson sent a message to parents at 5 p.m. Monday.

"We recently received a second hand report of a man and woman walking in the woods near our school. Reportedly, the man ​told four young girls, all under the age of ten, he was going to shoot up the school on Tuesday," Jackson said. "The man stated that he had a gun in the camouflage backpack he was carrying. We cannot confirm the credibility of this threat​."

This story was originally published April 9, 2018 at 7:17 PM with the headline "Police will heighten security at 3 Chapel Hill schools on Tuesday after reported threat."