Police investigate social media threats referencing Alexandria City High School

Well, a social media thread prompting some extra security this morning at Alexandria City High School. All right, let's get out to Fox 5's Melanie Alwick. She has more on what parents and what students can expect today. Mel? Hey, good morning. So, you know, the Alexandria City Police Department did alert the community on Facebook and other social media, but apparently the community has already been talking about this. They just didn't give a lot of details, the kind of details that people would want to know about what exactly the threat was. However, they did say that the additional law enforcement presence today is just a precaution. The alert from Chief Tarek McGuire said the department is aware of social media posts, plural, though he did not specify what ...platform, or what exactly was the threat to Alexandria City High School. Now, there are no changes to the school day. Alexandria Police and the Homeland Security Section is coordinating with the school system security office. The chief says to ensure a safe learning environment for students, staff, and faculty. Police have asked that students and families not share these kind of threats on social media, but to contact police, which many families did. Now, you may remember that two years ago, Alexandria City dealt with online threats that mentioned a fire alarm. being pulled, followed by a planned shooting at a school. That was part of a wave of copycat social media threats in September 2024 to schools across the country, including D.C., Maryland and Virginia. Police determined that those threats were hoaxes, many originating from out of state, then amplified locally. In some cases, teenage boys and girls were charged. Virginia law makes these kinds of threats against schools a class six felony with a maximum punishment of up to five years in prison Now here back in the city of Alexandria, there are two SROs assigned to each high school, the one here at the King Street campus and the one at the Minnie Howard campus. And again, they're saying the additional presence today at both of those campuses out of just a precaution at this point. And we do know the investigation, according to the police department, is ongoing. And they say anyone that has specific information should contact investigators. We'll send it back to you.