By Erich Wagner (File photo)
Updated at 2:50 p.m.
UPDATE: ACPS schools all are dismissing students normally, with the exception of Maury Elementary School, officials said. At Maury, students who take the bus are being dismissed normally, with assistance from police. Parents who drive their children must come to Door No. 1 to retrieve their students. Police are continuing to look for the suspect in this incident.
All Alexandria City Public Schools campuses operated under “lock-in” procedures Tuesday afternoon following the report of a man brandishing a “long gun” outside of Maury Elementary School, police and schools officials said.
ACPS spokeswoman Helen Lloyd said the district locked down Maury and three other nearby schools — Jefferson-Houston School, George Washington Middle School and the T.C. Williams satellite campus and site of the district’s Chance for Change program — at the direction of city police. These campuses have since shifted to the ‘lock-in’ status as well, she said.
Unlike a lockdown, lock-in protocols allow students to continue on with their school day, albeit with all school doors locked.
Police said in a statement that they are searching for a black man between 5-feet-6-inches and 5-feet-8-inches tall, with a “belly” and a short mohawk. He was wearing a black shirt, blue pants and black shoes. He was reported to be carrying what appeared to be a long gun, police said.
Fairfax County police aided in the search by way of the county department’s helicopter.
Police are encouraging anyone who sees a person matching this description to call 911.