ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Alexandria City High School's King Street and Minnie Howard campuses are on lockdown Thursday morning due to an anonymous threat received by the Alexandria Police Department (APD), the school district said.
APD is conducting a threat assessment at the schools to determine the validity of the threat.
The school district said the lockdown is in place for the safety and security of students and staff at the school. They said it "will be an asynchronous day."
School officials will provide more details about the anonymous threat once the police have completed the threat assessment.
Francis C. Hammond Middle School was also on lockdown Thursday morning after APD said they received a call around 9:30 a.m. about a shooting at the school. Police said officers canvassed the school and determined the call was unfounded. As of 10:42 a.m., school officials lifted the lockdown.
This comes as the school system announced Wednesday afternoon that School Resource Officers, known as SROs, will be back in Alexandria City High School and all the city's middle schools for the rest of the year.
The debate over bringing police back was emotional after school leaders pleaded that the first months of this school year have been turbulent and frightening.
During the meeting, Superintendent Dr. Gregory Hutchings Jr. cited that Alexandria City High School was just on lockdown last week. On Oct. 6, the school district prompted a lockdown after reports of a student with a weapon, according to an Alexandria City Public Schools official. The student was taken into custody by the Alexandria Police Department.
Superintendent Hutchings added there have also been fights and shootings involving students at nearby off-campus locations after school.