ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Police are searching for a driver who hit a 15-year-old boy in Alexandria Wednesday afternoon and quickly drove away, narrowly avoiding other children near George Washington Middle School.
According to the Alexandria Police Department, the teen was hit by a Penske truck at the corner of Montgomery and North Patrick Streets. He was taken to an area hospital and is expected to survive.
After hitting the 15-year-old, the person driving the Penske truck then headed toward the rear of George Washington Middle School nearly striking more children. A school Resource Officer (SRO) then took out his service weapon to stop the driver from moving toward more students.
The officer did not discharge his weapon. The driver left and no other injuries were reported.
Following the chaos, George Washington Middle School went under a "secure the building" status. “Secure the building” means that the school day continues on a normal schedule inside the school but no one is allowed to enter or leave the school while the building remains secured.
In a letter to staff and families, George Washington Middle School Principal Jeanette Vinson, said the decision to put the school into a secure status was made out of an abundance of caution and lasted for less than 10 minutes before normal operations resumed at about 3:20 p.m.
The box truck has since been located but police are still searching for whoever was behind the wheel.
Anyone with information is asked to contact APD by calling the non-emergency number at (703) 746-4444.
Vinson says students who witnessed the stressful event may reach out to a counselor, social worker, administrator or any trusted adult at GW or can connect with Crisis Text and Crisis Link at:
Text: CONNECT to 85511
Call Crisis Link: 703-527-4077
