Armed man accused of breaking into Greensboro school bonds out

GREENSBORO, N.C. (WGHP) — A man facing charges for breaking into a Greensboro elementary school and walking through the halls with a gun has been released on bond.

It happened on Saturday, April 13. Police patrol officers were called to Irving Park Elementary School and responded to a burglary alarm.

Police identified Jonathan Coley after security footage showed a man with a semi-automatic long gun inside the school.

Many IPES parents are upset after learning Coley was released on bond. His bond was set at $25,000, and he made bail yesterday.

A message was sent out to parents and guardians notifying them of Coley’s release.

“The fact that he’s out there somewhere is just unsettling,” said Tamara DiGiorgio, a parent of IPES students.

DiGiorgio has a kindergartener and a third-grader who attend IPES. She was upset when she learned Coley was released on bond.

“The fact that he has bond is absurd to me,” DiGiorgio said.

On Thursday before Coley bonded out, a bond reduction hearing was held.

His attorney ShaKeta Berrie requested for his bond to be lowered from $25,000 to $1,000.

It was denied.

Coley’s attorney said the bond guidelines for a gun on educational property is a class 5 felony with suggested bond ranging from $0 to $2,500.

A magistrate takes a number of things into consideration when determining a bond, including the allegations of the crime and even a risk evaluation. In this case, the magistrate set a bond 10 times higher than the suggested bond amount.

A condition was put on Coley’s release. In order to bond out, he needed to get a mental health evaluation. At his first appearance in court, Coley was deemed a “threat to the community.”

On Friday morning, IPES had an increased police presence on campus.

“The fact that somebody released him today is they’re failing us,” DiGiorgio said. “They’re failing your children.”

According to Guilford County Magistrate Tony Jacobs, who did not set Coley’s bond, there are several determining factors magistrates look at when setting bonds like prior criminal history and the circumstances of the crime like why and how it occurred.

“Even though Irving Park is protected, what’s to say he doesn’t want to fulfill … whatever his agenda was at another elementary school that’s not protected today,” DiGiorgio said.

While a mental health evaluation was required for Coley to be released on bond, his attorney said she had not yet received the results of that evaluation.

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