The Lenoir County Sheriff’s Office will have extra security at North Lenoir High School Monday after finding a homemade explosive device in a vehicle near the campus on Saturday.

The Lenoir County Sheriff’s Office began an investigation of a theft of an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) from North Lenoir High School Saturday afternoon.

During the investigation, the ATV was found down the road from the high school.

While searching the area looking for a suspect, deputies found an abandoned vehicle in a field down the road from the location of the ATV.

A deputy saw a suspected homemade explosive device in the vehicle.

Deputies immediately closed off the area and requested assistance from the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation Bomb Squad to deal with the device. The NCSBI Bomb Squad and their agents responded and were able to render the device safe.

Deputies immediately locked down the school property to perform a complete search of the school, due to the close proximity to North Lenoir High School and other evidence showing the suspect was on the school campus.

The sheriff’s office searched the school with the assistance of the NCSBI Bomb Squad and NCSBI Agents.

The search started Saturday evening and was completed around 1:30 p.m. Sunday.

“Deputies searched every bush, trash can, hallway, classroom, bathroom, locker room, school bus…any location, big or small was checked and no explosive devices were found,” Lenoir County Sheriff Ronnie Ingram said.

Ingram also said surveillance cameras for the school were reviewed and that the suspect did not enter the school.

At this time, no arrest has been made in the case.