LUMBERTON — The Public Schools of Robeson County paid tribute Thursday to the team of instructors and staff members who took action into their own hands against a man on March 20 who entered Pembroke Elementary School with a loaded gun.

Overall, Principal Joanna Hunt and five teachers and administrators were recognized during the regular meeting of the Robeson County Board of Education held Thursday evening.

Public Schools of Robeson County has said in a news release that the individual — Martell T. Scott, 30 — followed a parent into the building during school arrival. It was immediately reported to administrators and 911.

In a related matter involving public safety, county leadership has demonstrated collaborative commitment with the passage of an ordinance banning firearm discharge near schools, churches and other locations where people tend to gather.

At Pembroke Elementary on that Wednesday morning in March, staff members contained Scott to the front office area of the school and convinced him to turn over the handgun before leaving campus, the school district said. A school resource officer removed the individual from the building, and no injuries were reported.

Scott was charged with felonious restraint, robbery with a dangerous weapon, assault by pointing a gun communicating threats, assault with a deadly weapon in the presence of a minor and possession of a firearm on education property following the incident.

The retrieval of the weapon and arrest were the result of a domestic violence assault that took place before school, the release said.

The Public Schools of Robeson County’s Policy 4333 outlines prohibited behaviors on school campuses including weapons and clearly states that such behaviors will not be tolerated.

“We want to thank members of Pembroke Elementary School and present them with a special plaque of recognition this evening,” Jessica Sealey, a spokeswoman for PSRC, said from the podium. ”We want to recognize this group for their swift and courageous actions taken to protect students and staff when an individual with a weapon entered their school building.

“Your actions are to be commended,” Sealey continued reading from a prepared statement, “and the Public Schools of Robeson County extends its deepest gratitude for your character, strength and leadership.”

One by one the staff members were called up and congratulated by standing members of the Board of Education.

“Thank you, Joanna Hunt,” Sealey said.

“Thank you, Hattena Worriax Scott,” she said of the school’s assistant principal.

Then Sealey thanked physical education teacher Danyel Jolicoeur, secretary and bookkeeper Jennifer Locklear, and social worker Michelle Oxendine.

Locklear was not in attendance.

“You can see they’re all women,” board member Linda Emanuel quipped to some appreciative laughter.

Craig Lowry of the board singled out Oxendine, recognizing the social worker as the one who got the gun from Scott.

Hunt has said that Oxendine approached Scott in the lobby once she had been observing his behavior. “So, she finally felt confident enough to go over and say, ‘You need to give me the gun.’ And he handed it over,” she told The Robesonian a day after the school scare.

School Superintendent Freddie Williamson said he went to Pembroke Elementary later that morning. “You would never have known that something of that magnitude happened. It was calm.”

He then, too, thanked them for their swift action in the face of potential danger in a school full of young children.

Safety ordinance bans firearm discharge near public places

On March 18, the Robeson County Board of Commissioners passed a new ordinance making it illegal to discharge a firearm within 1,000 yards of any school, university, college, church, playground, park, recreational facility or sporting venue.

“County officials have said the measure is being taken to reduce the risk of harm while still respecting the rights of individuals who own firearms,” a University of North Carolina at Pembroke news release stated.

The ordinance has been adopted and went into effect on April 1.

However, this was no April Fools’ Day joke: Those found in violation of the ordinance will be charged with a Class 3 misdemeanor.

Commissioner Wixie Stephens told The Robesonian Friday that she was very supportive of the ordinance. She called it a safety issue, plain and simple.

The board, she noted, came to a consensus on the ordinance following some discussion.

“It was a unanimous decision,” she said.

She supported the measure that makes it illegal in the county to discharge a firearm within “at least 1,000 yards from schools and churches. Places of safety. When children are in school, we want our children to be safe,” Stephens said. “When we go to church to worship, that’s a place of worship. A sanctuary. If the county could do anything, that’s one thing that I was in support of. We weren’t trying to take away anybody’s gun rights. What we’re trying to say is we want responsible people and, that if they do have to have a gun, at least they’re not close to a school. That’s common sense.”

Previously, she has said that the area has had so many incidents near schools, churches and the University of North Carolina at Pembroke. And those are the places where folks must feel safe.

“Until it hits home,” Stephens said, “you don’t understand how important it is.”

Robeson County Attorney Rob Davis said in the release that the Board of Commissioners had been actively discussing the need for a firearm discharge ordinance over the last few months due to residents’ complaints about recent incidents. One involved a resident discharging a firearm and striking a neighbor’s recreational vehicle, which was occupied at the time, while another had to do with a shooting that took place near a golf course.

Shooting incidents on and near the campus of the University of North Carolina at Pembroke only escalated the conversation, Davis said in the release.

According to the university, “The ordinance provides limited exceptions including the discharge of a firearm in the use of self-defense by law enforcement officials in the performance of their jobs and during sanctioned firearm safety instruction programs.”

UNC Pembroke Chancellor Robin Gary Cummings applauded the efforts of county leadership to ensure safety while also respecting responsible gun owners.

“We appreciate the commissioners’ collaborative spirit, support of the university and bold, decisive action in taking a strong stance on this issue,” Cummings said in the news release. “Keeping the campus and community safe is paramount, and that is something that we can only do by working together.”

Last month, Cummings addressed the Pembroke town board regarding the shootings that had occurred in recent weeks. He asked the town and Pembroke Police Department to help eradicate the problem.

On March 2, police were summoned to The Commons, an apartment complex at 408 Railroad St near campus. Pembroke Police and Campus Police responded and found one person dead and four wounded as a result of gunshots. One of the injured later died of their wounds. A fifth wounded person had left the scene and was later admitted to a hospital for a gunshot wound. One of the two deceased was a UNC Pembroke student; three of the four wounded are or were recently university students.

On Feb. 7, 19-year-old Khalil Alford, a former UNC Pembroke student who was expected to return to his studies in the spring, was killed in a shooting near The Courtyard apartments, adjacent to campus. A week later, Kendall T. Brown, 22, was arrested and charged in connection to the fatal shooting.

On Dec. 4, a student who attends the university reported to the town board that a shooting had taken place at her apartment building. She said someone is going to die if something isn’t done to protect those students and residents who live in apartment complexes across from campus.

“We have to control this,” the chancellor said during the March Pembroke Board of Commissioners meeting, urging the town and town police to provide assistance.

In the news release, Cummings said the county ordinance is but one example of the collaborative efforts of UNCP, the Pembroke Board of Commissioners, Pembroke Police Department, Robeson County Sheriff’s Office, Robeson County Attorney’s Office, Robeson County Manager’s Office and Robeson County commissioners to implement change toward greater safety on the university campus and in the surrounding community.

Last month, the Pembroke board granted Campus Police at the university the jurisdiction to respond to and patrol off-campus housing locations and to act when the situation requires immediate attention, according to the college.

In addition, UNCP said, the owners and management groups of the four privately owned off-campus housing complexes agreed to a zero-tolerance policy for unauthorized gatherings. They implemented a ban on weapons on their properties punishable by eviction, legal charges and, where appropriate, referral for action under the UNC Student Conduct process.

In the coming weeks, university leadership will reconvene with all off-campus housing management groups to determine if and where any additional actions are needed. They also will meet with the town of Pembroke leadership to further discuss collaborative efforts around community law enforcement.

“These are not issues that will be resolved overnight,” Cummings said in the news release, “but I am optimistic (that) together we can implement sustainable solutions.”