More details have been released about the anonymous 911 calls made last month that led to Alexandria City High School being placed on “secure the building” mode.
No suspects have been arrested since the March 20 incident, when police received anonymous phone calls detailing a person with a firearm in the parking lot of the King Street campus (3330 King Street). Police believe that the calls were made through Caller ID Spoofing — concealing an identity by deliberately falsifying data sent to a Caller ID display.
At around 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 20, the Alexandria Department of Communications Center received a call from a male that he was inside the school on the second floor and “saw a male with a gun in the parking lot, the school was on lockdown and that he notified his teacher,” according to a recently released search warrant affidavit.
“After hanging up, the caller called back laughing, and stated that he was on the first floor and that he would meet officers outside,” police said in the search warrant affidavit. “There was no attempt to flag down officers on-scene. Officers responded and circulated the main parking lot, the parking garage, and Chinquapin Park and determined the call to be unfounded.”
An investigating officer called back the last-known owner of the number that was used to call 911, and was met by a man who stated that he hadn’t used the number in six years, according to the search warrant affidavit.
False summoning of police is a Class 1 misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in prison and/or a $2,500 fine.
Executive Principal Alexander Duncan III sent this note to parents after the incident:
At about 2:37 p.m. today, the Alexandria City High School (ACHS) King Street campus was placed in “secure the building” status for 22 minutes due to an anonymous reported threat called into the Alexandria Police Department (APD) of an individual with a gun in the King Street campus parking lot. As a result, dismissal may be impacted this afternoon. APD has given us the all clear and is currently on site investigating the situation.
The decision to secure ACHS was taken out of an abundance of caution. “Secure the building” means that the school day continues on a normal schedule inside the school, but no one is allowed to enter or leave the school while the building remains secured. An Alexandria City Public Schools video provides more information on what happens when a school is placed in “secure the building” mode.
Please know the safety and security of our students and staff are of utmost priority.
