Body found at school identified

Snipes Academy of Arts & Design was closed Wednesday, after police say the school’s principal found the victim of an apparent murder at the Dorothy B. Johnson Elementary School where Snipes is operating this school year. The body was identified as 19-year-old Daryon Terrell Walker of Wilmington. Detectives said Walker apparently died of a single gun shot wound.

Police said the principal, Allison Ward, found the body in a grassy area next to the school’s driveway. New Hanover County Schools said no school buses had arrived at school yet, but when they did they dropped students off at D.C. Virgo Middle School across the street. Those students waited at D.C. Virgo for parents to pick them up.

Ward said, “All the departments came together and two school’s staffs worked well together so our job is to keep students safe everyday.”

According to a press release from the school district Wednesday morning, as soon as possible the district began door-to-door bus transportation to take Snipes Academy student home. Students waited in D.C. Virgo’s auditorium until their parents could come pick them up. Parents and staff said what could have been both a scary and chaotic situation, was smooth, and safe. If parents were not home, the release said students were kept at D.C. Virgo until a parent/guardian could pick them up.

The district said D.C. Virgo is operating on a normal schedule.