More details revealed after man with semi-automatic long gun allegedly breaks into Irving Park Elementary School in Greensboro

GREENSBORO, N.C. (WGHP) — More details have been revealed about what happened on April 13 when security footage showed a man with a gun during a break-in at Irving Park Elementary School in Greensboro.

Identifying the suspect

According to police, Jonathan Cameron Coley, 26, of Greensboro , was identified on surveillance footage after a break-in at Irving Park Elementary School early in the morning on Saturday, April 13.

Police say patrol officers were called just after 6 a.m. to the school after a burglary alarm went off. An officer spoke with the principal at the scene, who said she would look at surveillance footage. The officer checked the school before he left.

A few days later, the principal called the officer back and said that a man, later identified as Coley, was seen inside the school holding a long gun. The officer reviewed the footage at the school and contacted a detective with an image of the suspect.

Coley and his vehicle were identified within hours of the footage being reviewed, and a warrant was issued for his arrest for felony possessing a gun on educational property and misdemeanor breaking and entering.

Officers took Coley into custody at a traffic stop around 4 p.m. on April 16, the same day he was identified. Drugs were found in the vehicle, in connection to which he was also charged.

He appeared in court a day after he was arrested and was deemed a “threat to the community.” He received a $25,000 bond. He was also banned from any school property, ordered to undergo a mental health evaluation before being released and “must relinquish any and all firearms and ammunition when asked to do so by any law enforcement officer.”

Warrants say that Coley was armed with a semi-automatic long gun.

New details revealed about the break-in

On Wednesday, FOX8’s Caroline Bowyer spoke to Mike Richey, Guilford County Schools assistant superintendent of school safety and emergency management, and learned new details about the break-in.

At around 5:50 a.m. on April 13, the alarm company that serves Irving Park Elementary School reported the break-in at the school building, but, when a police officer arrived at the scene, there was no apparent evidence of a break-in.

On Monday, April 15, marks were spotted in the grass that looked like a car had driven over the lawn.

Brand new cameras were installed at the school on April 12, the day before the break-in, and the footage was not accessible until April 15.

Upon review of the security footage, it was confirmed that a car did in fact drive onto the front lawn. Footage showed a man walk around the side of the school, pull open a door and enter the building. The door that Coley is accused of entering had not been fully closed. Once inside, Coley allegedly walked through the school and did not steal or damage anything.

Coley has no connection to the school district and is not a former student.

Richey says that the school district would never have learned that the break-in had taken place if not for the new cameras.

He also emphasized the importance of teachers closing and locking their doors each day.

Parent reaction

The parents and guardians of Irving Park Elementary were disturbed, shocked and worried after learning that a man with a gun had broken into their child’s school.

Parents say that they want to make sure something like this doesn’t happen again.

“What if on that particular day that there was an event going on, there were children inside?” said one grandmother picking up her grandson who didn’t want to be identified. “Someone could have been seriously injured. That could have been my grandson that had been seriously injured. But thank God, no one was there.”

The grandmother is thankful her grandchild wasn’t here when police said Coley broke into the school carrying a gun. On Monday, 10 days after it happened, many parents and guardians our crews talked with didn’t even know.

“I had no idea until you said something to me as I walked up,” said Oscar Williams, who has a child in second grade at the school. “Kind of shocked at first. … This is a nice area, but strange things do happen from time to time.”

“I’m just glad that whoever it was, they got him,” Williams said.

Despite Coley’s arrest, some are still concerned.

“He has been picked up,” said the grandmother. “That’s a good thing. However, is that going to prevent it from happening again?”

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