Alexandria City Hall at 301 King Street was investigated this afternoon after a bomb threat was sent, according to the Alexandria Police Department.
The Arlington Police Department sent a K9 unit to investigate just before 12 p.m., and a sweep was conducted of the building, but it was not evacuated.
“Out of an abundance of caution, we are sweeping the building and investigating a potential threat,” APD Communications Director Tracy Walker said. “But we have not evacuated the building.”
APD wrapped up its investigation of the building at 12:45 p.m.
Planet Fitness in Alexandria’s West End was evacuated early Saturday evening (April 6), adding to a growing number of similar threats made at locations around the country.
The Alexandria Police Department was alerted at around 6 p.m. of a bomb threat made via email, according to the APD scanner. Police said in one dispatch that an employee reported that the alleged threat was sent in an email at 4:06 p.m.
The building was evacuated for more than an hour, and reopened at around 8 p.m. Doyle’s Outpost, which is an arcade located next door to the gym, was also evacuated and didn’t reopen. Doyle’s Outpost had a staff of more than 15 people who ended up getting sent home early on Saturday night.
“We had multiple birthday parties going on,” Doyle’s Outpost manager Natise Ragland said. “I didn’t want to raise a panic, so I calmly told the adults that there was some sort of situation and that the police were asking us all to evacuate. Everyone paid their tabs and then we put their food in to-go containers and evacuated.”
There have been more than a dozen bomb threats made at Planet Fitness locations around the country after an Alaska woman’s membership was revoked at a location in Fairbanks last month. The member took photos and video of a transgender woman shaving in the women’s locker room, and then posted the images and videos online. The woman’s membership was revoked for violating Planet Fitness’s policy of taking pictures and video in locker rooms, and the gym defended its gender identity non-discrimination policy.
The issue has since gone viral, prompting online activists to protest the cancellation of the woman’s membership.
There’s a moderate police presence in the 4000 block of Kenmore Ave. as officers investigate a bomb threat. Officers have cleared the area as necessary during the search of the area. An update will be issued as necessary. pic.twitter.com/LOAPOlxjLJ
— Alexandria Police (@AlexandriaVAPD) April 6, 2024
(Updated 3 p.m.) The Alexandria Police Department evacuated students and staff from Charles Barrett Elementary School (1115 Martha Custis Drive) earlier today and Cora Kelly has gone into lockdown after threats to the schools.
Police said a report came in of a weapons violation at Charles Barrett around 12:05 p.m., according to the scanner. The scanner indicated that a man was making threats to shoot at the school, targeting a teacher, and that a ‘device’ was placed in the school. At 3 p.m., APD said no threat was found at Charles Barrett Elementary School.
Valley Drive, the road leading to the school, was closed by police earlier this afternoon. Students were sent to a nearby recreation center where parents came to pick them up at 2:35 p.m.
Cora Kelly Elementary School for Math, Science and Technology was also put on a lockdown status due to an anonymous threat, Principal Jasibi Crews said in a letter.
“For the safety and security of our students and staff Cora Kelly Elementary School for Math, Science and Technology is currently on Lockdown Status due to an anonymous threat,” Crews said. “The Alexandria Police Department (APD) is currently at the school conducting a threat assessment to determine credibility.”
Scanner traffic indicated a person said on an anonymous call that they were going to shoot at students leaving Cora Kelly.
Police tweeted around 12:50 p.m. today that Charles Barrett was being evacuated due to a threat.
Charles Barrett Principal Loren Brody wrote to families of students at the school:
Dear Charles Barrett Families,
Today, Charles Barrett Elementary School was placed on “secure the building” status at 12:14 p.m due to a threat called into the Alexandria Police Department (APD) regarding the school.The information was shared with Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS), which meant that the school day continued briefly on a normal schedule inside the school but no one was allowed to enter or leave the school while the building remained secured.
At 12:20 p.m., it was determined that students and staff at Charles Barrett Elementary School would be evacuated due to additional information received regarding a bomb threat that was in the vicinity of the school. (APD) and Alexandria Fire Department (AFD) are on site and working with Charles Barrett administration, ACPS leadership and the ACPS Office of Safety and Security Services.
Students were evacuated from Charles Barrett to their primary evacuation site (Parc East Apartment lobby), and ACPS staff sent buses early to the school to transport them to Cora Kelly School for Math, Science and Technology located at 3600 Commonwealth Avenue, Alexandria, VA 22305, 703-706-4420.
Please be assured that students were dismissed in a safe manner so they could be transported from school grounds as soon as possible.
We ask families to please not come to Charles Barrett at this time. If this is your normal pick-up process to come to the school and pick-up students, you can pick up your child at Cora Kelly School for Math, Science and Technology located at 3600 Commonwealth Avenue, Alexandria, VA 22305, 703-706-4420 beginning at 2:00 p.m. Please do not come earlier and be prepared to show identification (ID) to be reunited with your child.
Additionally, as a precaution, all after school and evening activities scheduled today at Charles Barrett are canceled, including:
- All student clubs, theatrical, musical or other activities.
- Any community activities scheduled at these facilities.
Students who are bus riders will be dropped off at their regular bus stops. Given that students will be transported from another location, please be prepared for some delays. Please note that some students do not have all their personal belongings to include coats.
The safety and security of our students and staff are of utmost priority. Thank you for your patience and understanding as we support our students and staff.
Sincerely,
Loren Brody
Principal
ALERT: There is a heavy police presence at Charles Barrett Elementary School at 1115 Martha Custis Drive. APD officers are investigating a threat made against the school. All students and personnel are being evacuated out of an abundance of caution. pic.twitter.com/5jDuhNydQ2
— Alexandria Police (@AlexandriaVAPD) January 24, 2024
James Cullum contributed to this story
A 46-year-old Alexandria man was charged with two counts of brandishing a firearm earlier this month after allegedly pointing a CO2-powered handheld pistol at a contractor working in his West End home.
On Sept. 5 (Tuesday), the contractor called police after the resident, Greco Gomez, allegedly brandished a firearm against him. The victim told police that he was working in the basement and took the trash outside and was “shocked” when Gomez allegedly threatened to shoot him, according to a recently released search warrant affidavit.
The victim told police that Gomez allegedly pulled a black pistol from his waistband, pointed it at the victim’s abdomen, turned and then walked back to the entrance of the two-story house. At the front door, Gomez, who is a tenant in the home, then allegedly turned around and pointed the pistol at the contractor again, according to the search warrant affidavit.
Police found that Gomez is a convicted felon prohibited from owning firearms and charged him with two counts of brandishing a firearm, according to the search warrant affidavit.
No firearm was found. Instead, police searched his room and confiscated a Byrna SD handheld pistol, three magazines, four empty ammunition tubes and boxes of CO2 cartridges, according to a search inventory.
The Byrna SD is legal in all 50 states, and does not require a background check for purchase. It costs $379.99, and has an effective range of 60 feet, according to Byrna. The company says their pistols are not firearms, since they are powered by compressed CO2 cartridges, like airsoft and paintball guns.
Byrna also sells three different types of hard plastic “Less-Lethal Self-Defense Ammo,” featuring “some of the strongest chemical compositions on the market,” the company said on its website. Additionally, the kinetic projectiles the company sells can reportedly break the side glass window of a vehicle from 30 feet away.
According to Byrna, the physical effects of being shot by one of their projectiles include: “Burning in the throat, inability to breathe, shortness of breath, nausea and excruciating physical pain.”
Gomez goes to court on October 10.
A 33-year-old man with a history of making bomb threats in Alexandria faces three more counts of making bomb threats to the city’s 911 call center.
Mikhail Stefon Douglas, of Severn, Maryland, faces three counts of making bomb threats to the city’s Department of Emergency and Customer Communications call-takers on Nov. 8, 2022. No explosives were found during a police search of the DECC facility at 2525 Mount Vernon Avenue and no one was injured, according to a recently released search warrant affidavit.
The Alexandria calls were made between 7 to 7:30 p.m. from three separate phones. The numbers were tracked to an Apple iCloud account with three devices (two iPhones and an iPad) owned by Douglas, according to the search warrant affidavit.
Douglas was arrested on Feb. 24 for a similar incident in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. He was charged with making false statements concerning a destructive device — a felony punishable by up to a year in jail. He was also charged with telephone misuse and making false statements to a police officer, which are both misdemeanors. He was denied bond, but his trial was continued after a public defender was unavailable to defend him, according to court records.
Douglas was transferred from Maryland to Alexandria on March 6 and charged with being a fugitive from justice and three counts of making bomb threats, according to court records. He was released the following day from the city jail on a $2,000 unsecured bond, according to the Alexandria Sheriff’s Office. His preliminary hearing in Alexandria is on April 10.
Douglas pleaded guilty in 2016 to making a bomb threat in Alexandria, and was sentenced to a year in prison. All but five days of that sentence was suspended and Douglas was placed on probation for two years, and was required to participate in substance abuse screening, supervised probation and mental health treatment.
Alexandria’s emergency mental health services are available 24 hours a day, and anyone experiencing a crisis can call 703-746-3401.
Updated at 3:15 p.m. Alexandria City High School’s campuses evacuated at 2:25 p.m. today after a bomb threat was made earlier by phone.
Principal Peter Balas wrote that the bomb threat was made while the schools were under a “Secure the Building” status.
“The Alexandria Police Department and Alexandria Fire Department are on site and working with ACHS administration, ACPS leadership and the ACPS Office of Safety and Security Services,” Balas wrote.
Balas said that students were evacuated to designated outdoor areas and that buses were sent early to speed up dismissal.
“At 2:45 p.m., the ‘Secure the Building’ status was lifted at the Minnie Howard Campus,” Balas wrote. “As a result, students may be able to leave both campuses early, depending on the arrival of the buses, while others may have a delayed departure from school, as the safety protocol allows.”
ACPS is asking parents follow directions from the Alexandria Police Department once they arrive to pick up their child from the school.
Additionally, all after school and evening activities scheduled today at the ACHS King Street and Minnie Howard campuses are canceled, including:
- All athletics, although some away games are still occurring. Instructions on pick-up for away games will be communicated at a later time
- All student clubs, theatrical, musical or other activities
- Any community activities scheduled at these ACHS facilities.
In a release, Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) said the buildings were put in secure status at 11:45 a.m. after a threat was received by phone.
According to the release:
The threat is being investigated by the Alexandria City High School administration, Alexandria City Public Schools Office of Safety and Security Services and the Alexandria Police Department.
“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. The decision to secure the ACHS King Street and Minnie Howard campuses was taken out of an abundance of caution to allow the investigation to proceed.
The safety and security of our students and staff are of utmost priority. We will continue to communicate via text, email and the school website to provide the most up-to-date information.
This is the second time in a little over a week that ACPS put schools into secure the building mode. Last Tuesday, ACPS said Francis C. Hammond Middle School, James K. Polk Elementary School, Patrick Henry PreK-8 School and James K. Polk Elementary Schools were put in a secure mode after police investigated a shots fired call nearby — though what this meant for the still under-reconstruction Douglas Macarthur Elementary School is unclear.
James Cullum contributed to this article
