‘Sandy Hook’ message left near school door gets employee charged, NC cops say

A school employee left a handwritten message mentioning “Sandy Hook Elementary” and a shooter near a school door, leading to a shelter-in-place and criminal charges, authorities in North Carolina said.

The message was found on the sides of a wooden block wedging open an exterior door at King Elementary School in King on Monday, Sept. 15, according to a Sept. 22 news release from the King Police Department.

In addition to “Sandy Hook Elementary,” Susan Heflin Carter is also accused of writing “Shooter’s Accomplice Block” on the piece of wood, police said.

Carter, 64, of Tobaccoville, was criminally charged with disorderly conduct “by disruption of the teaching of students of a public educational institution,” according to authorities.

Information on her legal representation was not listed in court records on Sept. 24.

Carter worked as a bus driver at King Elementary School, which is a part of Stokes County Schools, school district Superintendent Dr. Brad Rice confirmed in an emailed statement to McClatchy News on Sept. 23. King is about a 95-mile drive northeast from Charlotte.

Carter, who was hired by the district in January 2016, has been fired on accusations of “conduct that violated local and state school board policies and NC General Statutes,” Rice said.

According to police, the block referencing Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut was sometimes used by staff members to keep an exterior door open, in violation of school policies, WGHP reported.

Twenty first-grade students and six staff members were killed in a shooting at the Sandy Hook school on Dec. 14, 2012.

Carter is accused of leaving the message on the wooden block “as a commentary” against leaving doors open, according to WGHP.

After a King Police Department school resource officer was notified about the message on Sept. 15, the officer alerted administrators, resulting in the shelter in place, according to police.

“The school administration and law enforcement worked together to conduct a thorough search of the school,” Rice said. “It was determined that the piece of wood did not represent a viable threat.”

“Stokes County Schools remains committed to providing the safest environment possible for our students, staff, and community,” Rice said.

Carter is scheduled to appear in court on Nov. 18, records show.

Julia Marnin

McClatchy DC

Julia Marnin covers courts for McClatchy News, writing about criminal and civil affairs, including cases involving policing, corrections, civil liberties, fraud, and abuses of power. As a reporter on McClatchy’s National Real-Time Team, she’s also covered the COVID-19 pandemic and a variety of other topics since joining in 2021, following a fellowship with Newsweek. Born in Biloxi, Mississippi, she was raised in South Jersey and is now based in New York State.