Virginia police ramping up Halloween weekend security after threats to shopping centers

Police in a Virginia county are ramping up Halloween weekend security after officials said they received “information concerning potential public safety impacts” to shopping centers and malls.

“Yesterday, we received information concerning potential public safety impacts to malls and shopping centers across the region. As you all know, we take any and all information very seriously,” Fairfax County Police Department Chief Kevin Davis said during a Friday news conference.

“And as we work to corroborate it, we have increased our police presence throughout the county to include major thoroughfares, transit hubs, shopping plazas and shopping malls.”

Police would not say whether a possible threat was domestic or international in origin, nor would officials divulge exactly what kind of threat officials learned of. 

Davis said police go into every holiday weekend with increased patrols and noted that Virginia’s gubernatorial election was also several days away, so they were going to have “increased patrols throughout the next several days.”

The Fairfax County police chief confirmed that no suspects had been identified regarding the threat.

“We receive information, sometimes the information we receive is not with great specificity, but we have to respond to it nonetheless,” Davis told reporters.

“We’re simply being proactive. We’re acting with an abundance of caution in the best interests of those who reside here in the county, who will be visiting the county throughout the weekend,” he added.

The news comes four days before a Virginia gubernatorial election takes place in the state.