Francis C. Hammond Middle School in Alexandria, Virginia has been evacuated due to an “unknown threat”. Students of the middle school are being bused to nearby TC Williams High School and will stay there while police search the school. No one will be permitted to enter the school until further notice.
Update 11:40 AM EST: Officials have given the all clear, the school plans to have students eat lunch at T.C. Williams, then return to Hammond.
The night before at 9:15 PM, a Twitter user with the username PokeIsLife sent a threat to the school, saying:
“@ACPSk12 Bombing Francis C. Hammond middle school tomorrow at 12PM. During school. If bombing fail’s it will be school shooter”
Alexandria Public Schools say they do not know if the threat is credible but it is being treated as such. There is no official word if the above Tweet is the specific source of the evacuation.
The Alexandria School System sent out an alert at 10:35 AM, saying:
Hammond Middle School is being evacuated due to a threat that, ACPS does not know is credible but is treating as credible. Police are currently on site and conducting a search of the school building.
Students are being transported on buses to T.C. Williams High School where they will remain until the school has been cleared by the Alexandria Police Department. We will update you as we get more information.
Furthermore, the school system asked parents not to come to the school unless specifically requested to do so, as this can complicate the handling of an emergency situation.
About Francis C. Hammond Middle School
Francis C. Hammond Middle School is located in Alexandria, Virginia, at 4646 Seminary Road. Opened as a four-year high school in 1956, it was named after Alexandria native Francis Hammond, a U.S. Navy hospital corpsman who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions in the Korean War.
As of September 2014, the 1436 students at Francis C. Hammond are 39.8% African American, 37.3% Hispanic, 12.7% White, 6.3% Asian, 3.0% Multi-racial, 0.6% Native American, and 0.3% Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander.
