John Matthews
WMAL.com
WOODBRIDGE, VA — Police are taking no chances following a hacking incident last week in which it appeared the online school calendar at Forest Park High School included a scheduled “school shooting” scheduled for Monday, March 12th. There will be additional officers on site during the school day Monday.
Extra officers were also on hand after the hack was discovered Friday. That followed the discovery earlier in the week of bathroom graffiti that also referenced a March 12th threat to the school.
The threats prompted a letter home from the school’s principal, Richard Martinez:
Dear Forest Park High School Parents and Guardians:
The purpose of this communication is to share two pieces of information, one regarding an unplanned event which occurred today and another incident that was brought to our attention regarding a posting on social media.
This afternoon, everyone briefly evacuated the building due to a fire alarm. It has been determined that it was a false alarm. Everyone is safe and we will be working to determine who pulled the fire alarm and caused this disruption to our school day.
The other matter is in reference to the information shared last week with regarding someone who had written graffiti on a bathroom wall with a warning about a threat to our school on March 12, 2018. The matter was reported to the Prince William Police Department and PWCS Risk Management Office. The Police continue to investigate.
I want to share with you that it was brought to our attention this afternoon that someone posted something on Snapchat that purportedly indicated that the same threat was posted on the PWCS website. We cannot confirm that this threat was posted on the PWCS website, and the Snapchat posting is gone. We continue to investigate.
Please be assured that on March 12, as a precautionary measure, the Prince William County Police Department will have additional officers on hand at arrival, throughout the day, especially during lunch periods, and during dismissal.
We take this matter very seriously and are committed to ensuring a safe and secure environment at our school. The safety of our students and staff is our number one priority. We recognize our students and parents who contact administration to support our stance of, “see something, say something.” With everyone’s help, we can continue to keep our school a safe and effective place to learn.
As with most local school systems, Prince William County officials say they have had to field several threats of violence since the Valentine’s Day shooting incident. None have been deemed credible.
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