A threat reported around 9:45 a.m. Thursday triggered a temporary lockdown at Hillside High School and the co-located Durham School of Technology, both located at 3727 Fayetteville Street, according to Durham police. Law enforcement swarmed the campus and Sky 5 flew overhead as students and staff who were on site for extracurricular activities and athletic practices sheltered in place.
Durham police reported the lockdown affecting both schools, as first detailed by WRAL. Because Durham School of Technology operates as a Cooperative Innovative High School co-located inside the Hillside High School building, any security alert at the shared address automatically triggers a response affecting both student populations, according to Durham Public Schools. The tech school, formerly known as Hillside New Tech High School, serves roughly 220 to 251 students in grades 9 through 12.
The Durham County Sheriff's Office is leading the investigation, per the station's report. The office runs a dedicated School Resource Officer program that places trained deputies inside Durham Public Schools campuses specifically to manage crisis response and campus security, and Sheriff Clarence Birkhead has served in that role since 2018.
Summer Activities, Not a School Day
Thursday's threat landed nearly two weeks before Durham Public Schools' traditional calendar classes officially begin at Hillside High School on August 24, 2026. Teacher workdays for the district were not scheduled to start until August 17, meaning the students and staff on campus Thursday were there strictly for summer extracurricular activities and practices, not standard instruction, per the district's calendar.
Open questions remain about the incident. It is not yet known whether investigators have identified the source or medium of the threat, or whether any prohibited items were recovered during the search of the campus.
A Pattern of Lockdowns at Hillside
Thursday's scare adds to a lengthening list of safety disruptions at the Hillside campus. In April, an anonymous tip about a weapon prompted a lockdown and campus search, a story Hoodline reported at the time. In May 2025, the school locked down while deputies searched for suspects tied to an off-campus carjacking. And in March, a student was charged with arson and assault after igniting a trash can fire and spraying pepper spray in the cafeteria, sickening five people and sending a teacher to the hospital.
Students and staff have reported growing frustration with the frequency of these disruptions. The pattern extends beyond Hillside: similar false-alarm weapon tips have triggered lockdowns at Jordan High School and Riverside High School over the past year, part of what Sheriff Birkhead has described as a trend of non-credible tips that create widespread fear and pull emergency responders away from critical duties.
Security Measures and Legal Stakes
Durham Public Schools began rolling out AI-driven weapons detection scanners across district high schools ahead of the 2025-2026 school year, funded by a voter-approved 2023 bond referendum, after Sheriff Birkhead had urged the district to harden entry-point security. Since January, district Policy 4318 has also required middle and high school students to power down and store personal cell phones during instructional hours, under North Carolina House Bill 959, with exceptions only for verified health, accessibility, or safety plans.
State law treats both sides of a threat incident seriously. North Carolina General Statute § 14-277.6 makes communicating a threat of mass violence on educational property a Class H felony when a reasonable person would perceive it as credible. Separately, § 14-277.5 makes it a Class H felony to file a false report of mass violence on school property, carrying potential prison time, a permanent criminal record, and court-ordered restitution for disruption costs.
