Alexandria City High School’s King Street campus was placed on “secure the building” status and the ACHS Minnie Howard Campus was placed on “hold” status briefly this afternoon after an anonymous report was issued that someone was outside of the school with a gun, according to a letter sent to parents.
“Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) Safety and Security staff and the Alexandria Police Department (APD) investigated the anonymous external threat reported to the ACPS Anonymous Reporting System that someone was outside of the school with a gun,” ACHS Interim Executive Principal Lance Harrell wrote. “It was determined by APD this was an unsubstantiated threat.”
Community Safety Update
APD investigated a reported threat directed toward ACHS. Our Homeland Security Section, Intelligence Assessment Unit was unable to substantiate it.
The school briefly locked down out of caution. APD continues to monitor. #OneAPD #OneAlexandria pic.twitter.com/Zb5JywNu8d
— Alexandria Police (@AlexandriaVAPD) September 30, 2025
Harrell said that Alexandria City Public Schools has been the victim of “swatting” calls and emails in the past.
“Today, APD also received a similar threat to the one sent to our anonymous reporting system,” Harrell said.
The King Street campus at 3330 King Street went into “secure the building” status after the call was received at around 11:30 a.m., according to radio dispatches. The status was lifted at 12:09 p.m., according to Harrell.
Harrell’s letter to the ACHS community is below.
Alexandria City High School Students, Staff and Families,
As a follow up to the “secure the building” status at the Alexandria City High School (ACHS) King Street Campus and the “hold” status at the ACHS Minnie Howard Campus earlier today, we want to provide you with additional details about the incident. Please note that we updated the status to “secure the building” at Minnie Howard briefly after the initial status. This was after learning that numerous student walkers had not adhered to the transition protocols and had left the building.
The status was lifted at 12:09 p.m. following a comprehensive search of school grounds and investigation where APD determined the threat was not credible and normal operations resumed on both campuses. As you are probably aware, ACPS has been the victim of “swatting” calls and emails in the past. Today, APD also received a similar threat to the one sent to our anonymous reporting system.
Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) Safety and Security staff and the Alexandria Police Department (APD) investigated the anonymous external threat reported to the ACPS Anonymous Reporting System that someone was outside of the school with a gun. It was determined by APD this was an unsubstantiated threat.
Please help us remind your children that “swatting” is a criminal harassment tactic of deceiving an emergency service (via such means as hoaxing an emergency services dispatcher) into sending a police or emergency service response team to another person’s address. This is triggered by false reporting of a serious law enforcement emergency, such as a bomb threat, murder, hostage situation, or a false report of a mental health emergency, such as reporting that a person is allegedly suicidal or homicidal and may or may not be armed, among other things.
Following today’s incident, students can always speak to a teacher or counselor, administrator or any trusted adult in the school, if they are in need of help. Students can also reach out to CrisisText and Crisis Link at any time, 24/7, through the contacts below:
- Text: CONNECT to 85511
- Call CrisisLink: 703-527-4077
We are grateful for the Alexandria Police Department’s quick response and partnership in helping to keep our school community safe.
The safety and security of our students and staff remain our highest priority. Thank you to everyone for your patience while this threat was investigated!
Sincerely,
Lance Harrell, Interim Executive Principal
Alexandria City High School
King Street Campus
Minnie Howard Campus
Satellite Campus
Chance for Change Campus
