This story is still developing, and is being updated as more information is made available.

On the evening of Tuesday, Oct. 4 around 5:30 p.m., the Meridian High School and Mary Ellen Henderson Middle School joint campus was evacuated by Falls Church Police. Approximately 30 minutes later, police determined there was no threat at the school and allowed students and parents to re-enter the building.

At 6:25 p.m., FCCPS Communications sent an email to parents informing them of the false alarm and evacuation. According to the email, “a fault in the Secondary Campus alarm system” caused the evacuation. “When the trouble signal occurred, the alarm company notified the Falls Church Police, who arrived and ordered an evacuation of the buildings as a precautionary measure.”

According to Mr. Matt Sowers, Head of Counseling, there was an ESOL multilingual night program occurring at the Meridian library, and multiple Henderson teachers were at school working.

Both the Meridian football and cheer teams were practicing at the time as well. “Our team was in the middle of practice,” senior cheerleader Aylish Keehan described, “and out of nowhere, a police officer with [a gun] comes running into the gym on the upstairs track and he was screaming at all of us, telling us to leave the building.”

Additionally, both the Meridian and Skyline volleyball teams were warming up for their match when the police arrived.

“Everyone was screaming and running outside after policemen came in the gym, shouting at us to get out,” junior volleyball player Kathryn Ives added.

In the chaotic evacuation, the football teams found cover behind the baseball dugout and away stands, while the volleyball and cheer teams ran beyond the tennis courts and hid behind cars in the Henderson parking lot.

“I’d say it was pretty traumatic for most of the students,” Keehan said. “While we were hiding and none of us knew what was going on, most of the students were texting or calling parents, letting them know that we were in lockdown.”

After police cleared the buildings, students and parents were allowed back into the school to continue their activities. For volleyball, Skyline High School’s principal and athletic director advised the team to return home, leaving the match to be postponed. Only two weeks ago, Skyline had a similar false alarm due to an active shooter hoax that left the school in lockdown for nearly an hour, as their volleyball coach explained.

As spectators were told the match was postponed, Ms. Valerie Hardy, Head of Secondary Schools, explained the cause of the evacuation. She emphasized that there was never any threat to anyone on campus.

Although there was no threat, students involved in the evacuation expressed their concerns for themselves and their teammates.

“This is the second time that the school has had a false alarm like this, and it’s traumatizing for everyone,” Ives said.

While only a few students and staff were at the school Tuesday evening, the majority of students can recall the false alarm that occurred earlier this year on May 5, leaving the entire secondary campus in lockdown for an hour.

“I definitely think that whoever works with all of the lockdown technology needs to find out a way to fix this issue of the school randomly going on lockdown,” Keehan said. “This was the second time this has happened, and it was much more scary than the first time.”

It is unknown what exactly the “fault” in the system was which prompted the alarm, but FCCPS Communications assured parents that the alarm company would work to fix the error Wednesday morning, while students are not in the building.

“We appreciate the students, staff, and parents’ calm, swift reaction to the evacuation,” the email from Communications said. “We also thank the Falls Church Police Department for its immediate response and support.”