Schools Lockdown

As local authorities searched for a man armed with a handgun, two Burke County elementary schools were placed on a soft lockdown on Wednesday.

School officials report WA Young and Glen Alpine elementary schools were advised by law enforcement to observe a soft lockdown around 12:30 p.m.

Reports say the lockdown was lifted around an hour later at 1:30.

Officials with the school system state all students and staff were safe inside the schools, and that parents received phone notification of the situation.

According to a news release from the Burke County Sheriff’s Office, a man identified as 46-year-old Craig Herman Lytle was armed and had pointed the firearm at a resident living in the Powerhouse Road area.

The investigating officer also discovered several fires that had been set in the area, and Lytle is a person of interest in setting the fires.

Lytle is described as being 6 feet 2 inches tall and weighs about 196 pounds. He has long brown hair and was wearing a black bandana and green BDU pants.

Emergency officials say Lytle was last seen on Arney Drive off Powerhouse Road just outside the Glen Alpine town limits.

Law enforcement continues to look for Lytle while urging residents to not approach the suspect, but call 911 or the Burke Sheriff’s Office at 438-5500 if you see him.

McDowell Wanted

Authorities in McDowell County are on the lookout for a Marion man who fled during a traffic stop Tuesday night.

42-year-old Jeremy Wayne Parker was stopped in Old Fort for multiple traffic violations.

After finding meth, pills, and drug paraphernalia reports say the officer charged Parker with numerous drug offenses.

Parker who initially gave the deputy fictitious ID information fled into the woods after the traffic stop and remains at large.

Parker’s passenger 29-year-old Haley Helms of Marion also received drug trafficking and possession charges.

Anyone having information about Parker’s whereabouts is urged to call the McDowell Sheriff’s Office at 652-2235.

Nebo Drugs

Both occupants inside a vehicle stopped at a license checkpoint in Nebo now face charges.

Shortly after 9 pm April 6^th, officers with the McDowell Sheriff’s Office and the NC Highway Patrol were checking motorists at the intersection of Harmony Grove and Fairview Roads.

Reports say 43-year-old Wesley Rogers of Bostic approached the checkpoint with 43-year-old Tommy Burleson of Marion as his passenger.

Rogers was reportedly driving with a suspended license and is currently on probation.

Officers reports say could smell the odor of marijuana coming from the vehicle.

A search of the suspects and vehicle turned up meth and marijuana.

Rogers and Burleson were each charged with two counts of trafficking in meth and one count of possession of up to one-half ounce marijuana.

Rutherford Drug Bust

Three people have been arrested and charged following an investigation into meth distribution in Rutherford County.

Authorities there report receiving information that the suspects were distributing meth from a home in Ellenboro.

The Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office narcotics unit assisted by Forest City Police seized more than 451 grams of methamphetamine, a pistol, over 5 grams of marijuana, and drug paraphernalia.

James Wilson, Holly Edmonds, and Meranda Dotson were all charged with trafficking meth and conspiring to traffic meth.

Wilson and Edmonds were also each charged with possession of a firearm by a felon, while Edmonds was additionally charged with maintaining a vehicle to traffic meth.

Dotson’s bond was set at 250-thousand secured, Edmonds was secured at 330-thousand, and Wilson’s at 400-thousand dollars secured.

Missing Found

A missing teenager from Lincoln County has been located in Buncombe County.

The US Marshal’s Service informed Lincoln authorities Tuesday that they had located Navaeh Rollins at her grandparent’s home in Asheville.

She was turned over to the Buncombe County Department of Social Services.

Rollins had been reported missing after she finished her shift at McDonald’s on Highway 16 in Denver.