An apparent suicide at the Burke County Courthouse on Friday could have turned into a much worse situation, according to Sheriff Steve Whisenant. But officials say the courthouse is the safest it’s ever been, and the county is working to make it more secure.
Sheriff Steve Whisenant said in a letter that “a courthouse is an apex for potential violence” as so many disputes are settled by a judge.
“Loss of life is always a tragedy, but the suicide at the courthouse on Feb. 12, 2012, had the potential to be an even greater tragedy,” he said.
The gunman in this case never appeared to be a danger to anyone but himself, according to Whisenant. And the incident happened in the first-floor basement instead of on the second floor, which acts as the main floor where most employees are housed.
The county has already taken action to heighten security. In recent years, the courthouse locked most of its entrances forcing people to use a single entrance that now has a metal detector. Plans are in place to add an x-ray machine.
“The courthouse is definitely more secure than it ever has been,” he said.
Whisenant says a study on security at the courthouse is planned for the spring.
“The courthouse is scheduled to have a security assessment that I had requested from the North Carolina Sheriffs’ Association several months ago,” he said. “That assessment is tentatively scheduled to be conducted in April 2012. I will present those findings and recommendations to our county manger and county commissioners as soon as they are received.”
Clerk of Court Mabel Lowman says she’s never seen the courthouse as safe as it is now.
“It’s definitely not the way it’s been,” she said.
A metal detector was just moved to the front door, which is across from her office. Two to three deputies are also now stationed at the front door for security.
Nearly everyone who goes through the courts, whether they are accused of a crime or mired in a custody dispute, goes through Lowman’s office. She and her employees have long been concerned that someone irate at an outcome in court would bring a weapon through the door and threaten someone in the clerk’s office.
She’s “hopeful” that installing an x-ray machine at the front door to check purses and other items for potential threats will make the courthouse safer.
Lowman added that Friday’s incident was not the first the courthouse has seen. A man who was unhappy with a custody dispute nearly 30 years ago shot himself in the parking lot. The wound was to his stomach and he survived.
Another man also brought a shotgun into the courtroom to show the judge what kind of weapon he had. With the security in place, that can’t happen today.
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