Schools in the Wake County Public Schools System added increased patrols at every high school in Raleigh Friday during the manhunt for Syncere Pigford.
On Tuesday, Wake County deputies identified him as a suspect in the murder of Serenity Spencer. After that, Pigford, a student at Southeast Raleigh High School, was spotted on the campuses of both Enloe and Broughton high schools.
Other WRAL Top Stories
Combined with a mass shooting at a high school in Georgia this week and their own experience with an active shooter scare last school year, it was enough to put some Enloe students on edge.
Many current Enloe students were on campus in April when they had an active shooter scare. Knowing someone wanted for murder was able to easily get onto their campus, added to their safety concerns.
Pigford was taken into custody around noon Friday on Tudor Place, a short walk from Enloe.
Students at Enloe said the tragedy at a Georgia high school already had them on high alert this week. Friday's manhunt had them even more worried heading into school despite it being completely different circumstances.
These students want to know why they didn’t know about it all sooner.
"Just thinking about that and this, it kind of goes hand in hand," said student Eric Keith. "What happened there could very well happen here as well or the other schools he went to."
Enloe & Broughton neighbors, students shaken by arrest of murder suspect nearby
"It made me feel uneasy," said Jonathan Cordero.
"I’d say I’m very concerned," Justice Walton said. "He’s been here before and probably knows a lot about the school layout. I’d be worried that my life and my peers could be in danger."
The end of the manhunt and Pigford's capture happened feet away from Laurie Howard's home.
"I heard someone yelling 'get on ground! Get on ground,'" Howard said. "I was shaking. It was so scary. Dozens of cars pulled in the yard."
Pigford's age has not been released, but he is under 18, and has been referred to as a juvenile by authorities. Pigford was wanted in connection with the June 30 shooting death of 24-year-old Serenity Spencer near Wendell.
AUthorities said they school officials saw Pigford at Broughton High School on Thursday. School officials at the time were not aware of the charges against Pigford when they removed him for trespassing.
"It's scary [that] we have to deal with this stuff," Broughton parent Ayseguul Goceman said.
Law limits when authorities can release suspect names, photos
Because Pigford is under 18, he has certain protections for his privacy. But when he stepped foot on a school campus, that elevated the concern by law enforcement.
Pigford's name and photos were released Thursday night, only because of a law that went into effect late last year. The law is called Lyric and Devin's Law and was inspired by the Orange County murders of Devin Clark and Lyric Woods. It's been in effect less than a year.
Sheriff Charles Blackwood of Orange County pushed for the law change allow for the publication of names and faces of juvenile suspects in serious cases.
"In every tragic event there has to be some good that you find from it," Blackwood said. "This is that good. This is exactly the type of situation we had in mind."
It's not clear when Pigford was seen at which school. Broughton students told WRAL News that Pigford was seen there Thursday. Pigford was publicly identified around 11:30 p.m. Thursday, and the school system sent out a warning around 5 a.m. on Friday.
UNC School of Government professor Jacqueline Greene said Lyric and Devin's Law was established to circumvent the privacy protections under certain circumstances. It applies for situations such as violent crimes where a teenage suspect is on the loose.
"Generally speaking, juvenile records, and that includes law enforcement records of juvenile investigations, are confidential," Greene said. "There's some kind of emergency, which is what an exigent circumstance would be."
That is exactly what the Wake County Sheriff’s Office said Friday.
In a statement, the sheriff's office said, “We released his name and picture when exigent circumstances arose that allowed us to do so as per NC juvenile law.”
"For that quick release of information, the goal of the statute is to get the public's help in bringing that juvenile into custody," Greene said.
Another juvenile was taken into custody with Pigford on Friday. The privacy laws will protect that juvenile's information from being released unless he’s transferred to the adult court.
On Wednesday, Wake deputies said a juvenile petition was obtained for a third suspect in Spencer's death. Two men, Xavier Don ‘Ameche Atkinson and Kahlil Hahson Atkinson, who are brothers, are also charged in Spencer's murder.