Several school districts in the D.C. area are on high alert after threats of potential violence on social media.
At least one school district in Virginia closed school Wednesday, and another has increased security to protect students and staff.
Police and school districts across the nation are dealing with a spike in threats in the recent wake of school shootings. At least four school districts in the D.C. area have said they are aware of possible school threats, but nothing has gotten close to materializing.
The public school districts in Loudoun, Spotsylvania and Frederick counties in Virginia, and in Queen Anne's County, Maryland, are warning about potential threats after social media posts about either those districts or specific schools within them.
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None of those threats so far have been found to be credible, but Frederick County school officials in Virginia made the decision Wednesday to close their schools out of an abundance of caution. On Thursday, they said the problem is resolved and students were going back to classes.
Several of these school systems say that these threats made online actually originated from out of state.
Nevertheless, they are taking these threats seriously.
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In Loudoun County, the superintendent wrote a letter to the school community Wednesday evening about threats, writing: "Over the last week, we've seen an increase in these incidents, which unfortunately often happens in the aftermath of school shootings. What I need from parents right now is to talk to your children regarding the seriousness of making threats towards our schools or sharing threats that others have made online."
