Commercial Vehicle Accident Injury Attorneys in Elizabeth City, NC

ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. (WAVY) — A Central Elementary School student in North Carolina walked out of the building Tuesday and was near the road in front of the school before several people intervened to return the child to the school, prompting a deeper look into safety procedures.

According to the superintendent for Elizabeth City-Pasquotank Public Schools, the student was able to exit the building and was near U.S. 17, the road in front of the school, before school staff and community members intervened.

Resident Vickie Kohler said she was riding in a car that morning when she saw a little boy running along U.S. 17 about two houses down from the school.

“I didn’t think, I just jumped out of the car and tried to grab him to make sure that there was nobody that actually would hit him,” Kohler said.

Resident Katie Canning caught the whole incident on camera. In the video, another driver could be seen holding off traffic with their hazards on as the student ran alongside the busy road before Kohler got to him.

“I had the heart to get out myself, but she got there quicker, and she’s a hero in my eyes,” Canning said.

Kohler explained that as soon as she caught up to the boy, the boy’s teacher caught up to them.

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“She said that he was a runner and that she was turned around to talk to another student, and that she had took his her eyes off of him for a couple of seconds, and he darted out the door,” Canning said.

Officials with ECPPS released a statement following the incident, which can be read below:

On Tuesday, March 4, a student left their classroom, exited the building at Central Elementary School, and was in proximity of the road in front of our school. Thanks to the quick response of our staff and community members, the student safely returned to campus without injury.

Keith Parker, ECPPS Superintendent

Staff state they will continue to investigate how the child was able to leave the building and will review the school’s safety procedures to make sure that a similar incident doesn’t occur in the future.

“All we can do is just hope that the district will find ways to fix the situation,” Canning said.

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ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. — Ronald Sutton is a Vietnam Veteran who has called Elizabeth City home his entire life.

"All my life, I was born in 1950," said Sutton.

I met Ronald as he was leaving the Social Security Administration Building, a place he frequently visits for services.

Watch related: 30+ cars broken into at Elizabeth City apartment complexes

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"Certain information I get from the Veterans Administration, they'd ask for certain things, and I had to get information from here for my social security, things like that. So it's convenient for me to come here, than go online," said Sutton.

The Elizabeth City location was included on a list from the Department of Government Efficiency or "DOGE," for potentially being a part of the continued cuts across the federal government. News that made its way around Elizabeth City on Friday, as many we spoke with said it's an asset to their community.

“I just hope they don’t close it, I really do. Because, it’s going to put a lot of people at a disadvantage," said Sutton.

The future of the location is unclear, but for now it is operating business as usual.

Watch related: Air Station Elizabeth City C-130, Jayhawk helicopter used to rescue men on sinking sailboat

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We reached out to the Social Security Administration and General Services Administration and their responses are below:

"Acting Administrator Ehikian’s vision for GSA includes reducing our deferred maintenance liabilities, supporting the return to office of federal employees, and taking advantage of a stronger private/government partnership in managing the workforce of the future.GSA is reviewing all options to optimize our footprint and building utilization. A component of our space consolidation plan will be the termination of many soft term leases. To the extent these terminations affect public facing facilities and/or existing tenants, we are working with our agency partners to secure suitable alternative space. In many cases this will allow us to increase space utilization and obtain improved terms," said a GSA spokesperson."We are working with GSA to review our leases and ensure they are used efficiently. Most of the leases we are not renewing are for small remote hearing sites that are co-located with other Federal space. As the majority of our hearings are held virtually, we no longer need as many in-person hearings locations. In fact, in FY24, twenty percent of these offices held no in-person hearings. Other offices are non-public facing, being consolidated into nearby locations, or we had planned to close. Social Security continuously monitors and evaluates the use of our office space to maximize efficiency for the American taxpayer," said an SSA spokesperson.

Copyright 2025 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. — Vickie Kohler was out getting wood with her husband Tuesday morning. While they were driving on US-17 south near Central Elementary School, they noticed something unusual.

"There was a little boy running down the road," said Kohler.

Vickie sprang into action, making the decision to go across the busy road to make sure the child did not venture into oncoming traffic.

Watch related coverage: North Carolina school district hits major milestones in student improvement

“When I got out, I seen the cars coming to me. I threw my door open, and I was just hoping they were going to stop. All I could think of was trying to get out to save the little boy," said Kohler.

Katie Canning captured Vickie’s heroic actions as they happened.

“She was passionate, but she didn't even think about it, until she saw the video that I recorded, how dangerous it really was, because it's a basic human instinct," said Canning.

“I was in 50 million emotions, and I didn't even realize what I had really, really done until, like, probably the next day," said Kohler.

Watch related coverage: 30+ cars broken into at Elizabeth City apartment complexes

Elizabeth City Pasquotank Public Schools released a statement on the incident, sharing their thanks for the community members that stepped up. School leaders also say they are reviewing current safety procedures to make sure an incident like this never happens again.

"On Tuesday, March 4, a student left their classroom, exited the building at Central Elementary School, and was in proximity of the road in front of our school. Thanks to the quick response of our staff and community members, the student safely returned to campus without injury.Please know that student safety is our highest priority. Our staff reacted immediately upon noticing the student had left the classroom and took swift action to ensure the student's safety. We are grateful that the situation was resolved without harm. However, we take this matter very seriously and are actively reviewing how the student was able to leave the building. We are reviewing our safety procedures to ensure that an incident like this does not happen again."

For Vickie Kohler and Katie Canning, they are just happy they could prevent a possible tragedy and hope their actions lead to change.

Watch related coverage: Air Station Elizabeth City C-130, Jayhawk helicopter used to rescue men on sinking sailboat

"Hopefully this is, unfortunately, an eye opener. But at the same time, I'm so glad that this was not a tragic eye opener," said Canning.

“I want everybody to know that I don't feel like I'm a hero. I do not feel like that I deserve anything. I just want people to know that what has happened here, I want them to actually do something about the protocol of keeping these kids safe," said Kohler.

School officials emphasized that they are thoroughly investigating how the student was able to leave the building.

ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. — Officials say a student walked out of Central Elementary School Tuesday morning and was found near the road in front of the school before being safely retrieved.

They said a student left the classroom, exited the building and was "in proximity of the road" in front of the school and was safely returned to campus without injury, due to the quick response of one community member, Vicki Kohler, and her husband.

Kohler said she was on her way to get some wood with her husband, when she saw the little boy.

"My husband said 'oh my goodness, look at that,' and I guess my mom instincts just took over because then I was telling him, pull over right now," said Kohler.

Kohler then ran across a busy Highway 17, located right in front of the school, and scooped the boy up as cars around them came to a standstill.

Kohler said the boy did not seem to know where he was.

"He just kept on saying 'I'm not supposed to be in the road, I'm not supposed to be in the road,'" said Kohler. "I said 'I know, little man, you're not. Never go by the road, you'll get hit."

Moments later, Kohler said a teacher with Central Elementary School caught up to them. Kohler said the teacher apologized, saying she took her eyes off the boy for just a few minutes and found the boy gone.

Kohler said she's just grateful she was there to stop him before he got too far away.

"He would have made it down to the church with how fast he was going," said Kohler. "I believe that the school needs some type of fencing around it to prevent this from happening, cause we do have special needs children in this area."

The entire incident was captured on cellphone video. Katie Canning, who filmed the rescue, said she was about to jump out of the car when she saw Kohler already running. The two found each other on social media later, and Canning said the incident stayed with her, as she has a child with special needs herself.

"It can be so scary when they take off like that," said Canning. "I'm just so glad this didn't end up as a tragic situation, but we have to learn from this, and make sure it doesn't happen again."

13News Now reached out to Elizabeth City-Pasquotank County Public Schools for further comment, but have not yet heard back.

A spokesperson previously emphasized that they are thoroughly investigating how the student was able to leave the building and are reviewing safety procedures to prevent future incidents.

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