Two 13-year-olds were arrested by Alexandria police after bomb threats shared on social media prompted police to evacuate one school for a K-9 search.
A girl was charged and accused of making a bomb threat against George Washington Middle School on social media, police said.
Police charged a boy in connection with Twitter threats against Francis C. Hammond Middle School, which was evacuated just after 10:30 a.m. Thursday.
The threat mentioned a bomb and a school shooter.
Police considered the threat a hoax, but students were taken to nearby T.C. Williams High School while police and K-9 teams searched the middle school.
"There's a lot of students crying. Many of them were anxious and worried. But personally I was calm because I knew the school was gonna keep us safe," Kevin Zepeda, a 7th-grade student, said.
The all-clear was given just before 1 p.m.
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The threat came from a Twitter account, but the principal does not recognize the image with the account. Twitter suspended the account.
The threat was posted at 9 p.m. Wednesday but wasn't detected until a school district employee arrived at work Thursday, when students were already in school.
Some parents still opted to take their children home after the scare.
"I was so uncomfortable. I was just like 'I have to go and get my son!'" one mom said.
"I want the punishment to be hard because this is not something to play with," another mom told News4. "It's a whole school. Parents, they are scared."
Police said the two teens were arrested for seperate incidents. Alexandria police promised to prosecute those involved in making the threats in a statement.
