The police department released the statistics after another series of threats against Yorktown High School and Williamsburg Middle School last night.
“The Arlington County Police Department continues to work with our partners at Arlington Public Schools to ensure a safe and healthy learning environment for students and staff,” the department said. “[ACPD] encourages parents and guardians to talk to their children about the seriousness and possible consequences of making threatening statements.”
Social Media Threats Against Arlington Schools — “There is an increased police presence at a middle school and high school in Arlington Friday after authorities say they were the targets of social media threats Thursday night. Arlington County Police say ‘threats of violence’ were made to Williamsburg Middle School and Yorktown High School… police have identified a person in connection with the incident.” [WJLA, Twitter]
Cannonball Found Near the Run — “A remnant of the most turbulent period in Arlington’s history was unearthed during the recent renovation of the Arlington Food Assistance Center’s warehouse space in the Four Mile Run corridor. A 24-pound spherical shell was found during the construction period.” [InsideNova]
Update at 1 p.m. — Arlington County Police have issued a statement about the investigation via Twitter.
Yesterday, the police department was alerted to a potential threat of violence posted in a restroom at Yorktown High School. Police immediately began investigating the incident and at this time have determined that there are no credible threats to the safety of the school, (1/2)
(Updated at 3:05 p.m.) Washington-Lee High School is in “secure the building” mode as police investigate a threat.
“At approximately 12:07 p.m., police responded to the report of a telephone threat received at W-L,” said Arlington County Police Department spokeswoman Ashley Savage. “The school has been secured as police investigate.”
That’s what reportedly happened to one woman in Arlington yesterday afternoon.
Except the terror quickly gave way to relief when the woman’s dad called and said he was fine — while she was gathering the ransom payment. Police are now investigating the incident.
Hoax social media posts, often featuring images of sinister-looking clowns, have threatened schools across the country. Thus far the posts have led to numerous arrests of teens suspected of making the threats, but no reported violence.
Last night, two Instagram accounts — @virginiaclowns and @dmv_clowns — posted similar threats, warning of shootings at a number of area schools, including Kenmore, Gunston and Thomas Jefferson middle schools in Arlington.
Alarmed parents found out about the possible threat via two emails from Arlington Public Schools, fueling a rumor mill. However, police say they interviewed “several students” and determined there is no actual threat to the school.
“It was some graffiti that could be viewed as potentially threatening,” Arlington County Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck told ARLnow.com. “At this point we have determined that it was more of a prank than a threat… a joke that was not very funny.”
A sheriff’s deputy approached the 39-year-old man’s apartment around noon in an attempt to serve an eviction notice. According to police, the man threatened the deputy, as well as himself, and then barricaded himself in the apartment.
Police evacuated the neighboring apartments and set up a command post in one of the units, where they were able to talk with the man on the phone. The man came out of his apartment more than an hour later and police took him into custody. He was transported to Virginia Hospital Center for a mental evaluation.
In this week’s Arlington County crime report, a female escort is robbed by a man with a gun, and a man who threatened to get his gun is Tasered by police.
ROBBERY 12/08/10, 1200 block of N. Glebe Road. On December 8 at 12:15 pm, a man brandished a handgun and robbed a female escort in a hotel room. The suspect is described as an African American male, 5’9′ with a medium build. He was wearing a white shirt, black pants and black shoes.
Arlington police are investigating a threatening letter sent to an official at Marymount University.
The letter was delivered to the Arlington campus over the Easter holiday but was discovered Wednesday afternoon.
An unspecified threat at Washington-Lee High School has prompted officials to cancel all after-school activities at the high school, including adult education classes. The W-L aquatic center has also been closed.
Administrators learned of the threat this afternoon, school officials said in an email. Police investigated and determined that there was no imminent danger to students and staff.
