Ex-husband threatens school staff member, forcing campus to close, police say

PINEVILLE, N.C. — Sterling Elementary School in Pineville was closed Tuesday due to an active police investigation, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools officials said.

An ex-husband of a staff member at the school threatened to kill her and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department was on the lookout for Isaac Burch.

Officers found his truck outside a north Charlotte hotel and arrested him on an outstanding warrant from Michigan.

Burch has 26 prior offenses and was released from prison in 2013 after smashing a beer bottle into someone's face, according to the Michigan Department of Corrections.

Kannapolis police notified Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Monday of a heightened possible safety and security risk at Sterling Elementary School stemming from a domestic situation involving a staff member at the school.

“The safety of students, staff and all school personnel is top priority,” a CMS statement said. “Out of an abundance of caution and after consultation with law enforcement authorities in an ongoing investigation, Sterling Elementary is closed on Tuesday for all students, staff and personnel. We are unable to provide further details at this time as this is an active investigation, and will provide an update to Sterling Elementary families and staff for the Wednesday schedule as soon as possible.”

A mother of two children who attend the school told Channel 9 that CMS called her Friday night and Sunday night saying there was a light lockdown, meaning no students could play outside.

With school canceled Tuesday, she's wondering why it wasn't canceled Monday. She also said she noticed a lot of police officers at the school Monday.

"It's hard to explain to your children with the chain of events that are going on around the world that, you know, I now have to worry about your safety so close to home," the mother, who did not want to be identified, said.

The arrest was made Monday night, but CMS officials decided to still close Sterling Elementary School on Tuesday out of an abundance of caution and to allow detectives to investigate.

CMS cannot identify the staff member involved or provide further details on the nature of the domestic dispute.

"I'm glad they did that because (there’s) too much stuff going on,” resident Ida Wilson said. "People coming in and shooting up whatever. It was a good thing to me. It was."

Sterling Elementary School will reopen on a normal schedule Wednesday.

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