Schools in Ellsworth are on heightened security as law enforcement search for a suspect from a high speed pursuit who might be in the area.

On Wednesday, 26-year-old Scott Lutz led law enforcement officers in Reno County on a chase that reached speeds of 100-miles-per-hour through the northern part of the county in a Chevrolet Silverado. Authorities called off the chase due to public safety concerns after Lutz passed a school bus. He told authorities he won’t be taken alive.

Lutz has ties to the Russell and Ellsworth County areas.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported early Friday morning that several troopers responded to Ellsworth county to assist the sheriff’s department with a driver, believed to be Lutz, that ran on foot following a chase. A ping from his cell phone was later picked up in the Geneseo area. Multiple local, county, and highway patrol officers headed to the area to help in the search. A command post was initially established at the intersection of K-14 / Avenue U.

As a precaution, Ellsworth USD 327 schools took extra security measures. In a message to parents, the school posted online “buildings will be open, but doors will be locked and monitored. Please have students come directly into the buildings, we will be on alert with extra supervision”.