On Monday, March 23, Lake Braddock Secondary School employees received a bomb threat by email. Out of caution, the school was put on a two-hour delay and police and K-9 units were brought in to search for a bomb. As the investigation continued, Lake Braddock was closed for the day. At the police’s completion of the search, around 9:15 that morning, no bomb had been found.

FCPS stated on its website that, “The building is safe to occupy,” and students would be allowed on school grounds for after-school activities.

Very few details have been released on the subject.

“They try not to release too many details because then you get a lot of copycats,” said Buddy Sekely, McLean High School’s Security Specialist. “I would imagine there’s some kid out there that wants to extend their spring break and is trying to figure out what was said at Lake Braddock that made them shut the school down.”

Students’ reactions to the threat included fear that there was a real bomb and excitement at having a day off of school.

“I was just happy that we didn’t have school,” said Joy Hwang, a sophomore at Lake Braddock. “ [But] if the threat was real, I was worried that someone would get hurt.”

While this was undeniably an alarming experience for students and faculty alike, this kind of event is rare in Fairfax County.

“I’ve been working for Fairfax County—between the schools and the police department—for thirty-seven years,” Sekely said. “I can’t remember the last time they closed a school down for a bomb threat.”