Several District Two schools go to higher security profile Thursday as Cayce officers search for arm

Cayce, SC – Several Lexington District Two schools were placed on a heightened security level Thursday morning. This was done as officers with the Cayce Department of Public Safety were searching for several armed robbery suspects in the heart of the city.

According to Cayce’s DPS Chief Byron Snellgrove, their officers responded to an armed robbery that occurred at the Simba Market in the city. Responding officers spotted a car they believed was occupied by the suspects that perpetrated that robbery. When the officers tried to stop the car, the driver initiated a chase in the Frink Street area. At some point, several of the occupants jumped from the car and fled on foot.

Jim Hinton, an administrator with Lexington School District Two, said that the four schools closest to the location where the suspects bailed out of the car went to a "Secure Outside" mode. These schools included BC High School, Busbee Creative Arts, Davis ECC, and Taylor Elementary.

Hinton said that a secure outside means that those schools that were included lock all outside doors and no students or faculty members are allowed to be outside the buildings. According to Hinton, classes went on as usual inside the schools during that time.

Chief Snellgrove said that they currently have 3 suspects in custody that they suspect were involved in the robbery. They have also located several guns that they believe were used during the commission of the crime.

Snellgrove said that no one was injured during the chase. His department is still investigating this crime.