DeKalb middle school on lockdown due to ‘police search’

Bethune Middle School in Decatur was placed on lockdown due to a “police search” in the area, a DeKalb County School District spokesman said.

MORE | Suspect in stabbing deaths of 14-year-old girl, man led cops on chase, still at large

Dismissal was delayed until police gave the school clearance to release students. The lockdown was lifted before 4:15 p.m.

The school, on Covington Highway, is less than two miles from the scene of a double stabbing that left an adult man and a 14-year-old girl dead Sunday morning. Police arrested Royce Stewart, a suspect in the fatal stabbings, shortly after 3:30 p.m. Monday.

Bethune Middle School was in the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office search area for Stewart, so the school locked down “out of an abundance of caution,” said Cynthia Williams, a spokeswoman for the sheriff’s office.

The 14-year-old victim has been identified as Shykia Ward-Reese. The adult male victim has not been identified. Ward-Reese attended Renfroe Middle School on College Avenue in Decatur.

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Police said Royce Stewart, 36, stabbed a 14-year-old and another man to death.

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