Three Paulding County schools on lockdown Thursday morning after a police chase ended near the campuses have been given the all-clear.
According to Paulding sheriff's spokesman Ashley Henson, South Paulding High and Dugan Elementary, which share a campus on Winn Road, were placed on lockdown as a precaution while deputies searched for suspects that fled on foot following a vehicle chase.
Just before 9:30 a.m., the Paulding County School District announced on its Facebook page that a third school, Austin Middle, had been added to the list.
The district lifted the lockdowns just before 9:45 a.m., a school system spokesman told Channel 2 Action News.
Villa Rica police began chasing four suspects in a pickup truck, and that chase wound its way into Paulding County before ending when the truck crashed through a fence and into woods in a neighborhood near the schools.
Villa Rica police Chief Michael Mansour told Channel 2 Action News that at least one of the suspects fired a rifle at pursuing officers during the chase.
After wrecking the truck, the suspects fled on foot, but police searched the area and eventually captured all four suspects.
Channel 2 reported that police recovered body armor, an assault rifle and a shotgun.
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