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Alford was wearing a dark utility vest routinely worn by law enforcement officers, had an official-looking U.S. Marshal's badge clipped at his waist, and was wearing a holstered Kimber .45-caliber semi-automatic handgun when he was arrested without incident ......Alford is charged with two felony counts of having a gun on educational property, two counts of carrying a concealed weapon, and impersonating a law enforcement officer.

Sheriff: Ex-officer took gun to school
Man also accused of impersonating a U.S. marshal

By Paul R. Jefferson,
Staff Writer
STAR-NEWS

NC - A former police officer was arrested at Shallotte Middle School on Thursday after a student said she saw the man walking on campus with a gun. The man is also charged with impersonating a U.S. marshal. Brunswick County Sheriff Ronald Hewett announced Friday that the arrest of Perritt Elbert Alford a day earlier came about after a student spied Alford with a handgun Wednesday as the man came to pick up his child at the school. The student, who Hewett declined to identify, first told her parents, who then alerted the school. By the time the sheriff's office was alerted, Alford had already left Shallotte Middle School. It is a violation of state law to carry a weapon on school grounds.
On Thursday, deputies went to the school to investigate a possible repeat of the occurrence, and arrested Alford shortly after he arrived at 3:15 p.m. Sheriff's Lt. Sam Davis, head of the major crimes unit, said Alford was wearing a dark utility vest routinely worn by law enforcement officers, had an official-looking U.S. Marshal's badge clipped at his waist, and was wearing a holstered Kimber .45-caliber semi-automatic handgun when he was arrested without incident as he walked toward the school. Alford's child was kept inside the school during the incident and was later taken home by his wife, the sheriff said.
Alford, who served as a police officer in Tabor City, Shallotte and Yaupon Beach over the past two decades, was issued a permit to carry a concealed weapon in 2005, Hewett said. On a table during a news conference on Friday, the sheriff displayed the permit and other items taken from Alford's home as a result of his arrest: four handguns, official-looking U.S. Marshal badges, hundreds of identification cards, several U.S. Marshal photo tags identifying Alford as a U.S. marshal, and other law enforcement badges, including a retired police officer badge from the Shallotte department. Alford's conceal-and-carry permit has now been revoked, Hewett said. After Alford's arrest, the U.S. Marshal's office in Wilmington was informed, and sent staffers to investigate him further, Hewett said. Alford is charged with two felony counts of having a gun on educational property, two counts of carrying a concealed weapon, and impersonating a law enforcement officer.
He remains jailed at Brunswick County Detention Center while the investigation by the sheriff's office and the U.S. Marshal's Service continues. He is under a $30,000 secure bond, and additional charges may be filed as the inquiry into his background continues, Hewett said. School Superintendent Katie McGee said she was "surprised" that the incident took place at the school, which is well-marked with signs at the entrance prohibiting the carrying of firearms on the grounds. Hewett said he knew Alford before the incident. "I've known Alford for quite a while, and I had no idea that he had this obsession or infatuation with the marshals," said Hewett. "We don't know what he was preparing for, or if he was preparing for anything, but we are glad we found him." The sheriff said he first met Alford when both were employed as Shallotte Police Department patrolmen, around 1989 to 1990. He described Alford as a "prompt, polite, on duty" police officer who seemingly worked fine alongside other officers.
Oak Island Police Chief Vann Eddinger, who years ago worked as a patrolman at Yaupon Beach, said records indicate Alford was a Yaupon Beach patrolman around 1991 to 1992, and either resigned or left the department.
In Tabor City, Police Chief Donald Dowless said Friday that Alford worked for the department from 1987 to 1988, although he could find no record of an official resignation in Alford's personnel file. Records indicate Alford is a native of Loris, S.C., and graduated from a local high school in 1983. Alford also worked briefly for the Tabor City sanitation department before passing the law enforcement exam and becoming a police officer. "I don't think he stayed with us for that awful long, and I don't think it was on the best of terms that he left," Dowless said Friday.

Paul Jefferson 755-6307
paul.jefferson@starnewsonline.com