By Gary Lloyd
CLAY — Clay Elementary, Clay-Chalkville Middle and Clay-Chalkville High schools were in a key drill — or a soft lockdown — Tuesday around 11 a.m. as authorities searched the surrounding area for burglary suspects, according to Trussville Police Department Lt. Jeff Bridges.
The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office is assisting the Trussville Police Department. The suspected burglars crashed their vehicle and fled on foot after a chase down Trussville-Clay Road and onto Old Springville Road.
It is not an emergency situation for the schools, according to Clay-Chalkville High School Principal Michael Lee. Lee said classes were still ongoing, but with locked doors and no students or staff in the hallways. He said a key drill in these situations are standard operating procedures.
UPDATE at 12:10 p.m.: Two black males were allegedly committing a burglary at a house on Ryan’s Way in the Pilgrims Rest subdivision in Trussville, according to Bridges.
Police attempted to stop their vehicle but it struck a Trussville police Tahoe and left at a high rate of speed. Other TPD units joined the chase, and the suspect vehicle wrecked on Old Springville Road, Bridges said.
The suspects fled on foot into the woods.
The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office is assisting with a K-9 unit.
Someone reported the vehicle to the Trussville Police Department as suspicious earlier in the day. That was on Memory Lane.
UPDATE 1:10 p.m.: The two suspects are now in custody.
More information will be provided as it becomes available.
Contact Gary Lloyd at news@trussvilletribune.com and follow him on Twitter @GaryALloyd.