Relatives of 18-year-old Luis Mejia Hernandez, who was killed last month at a shopping center near Alexandria City High School, say school officials should be more watchful.
The shopping center became the site of periodic violence, and when students returned to in-person instruction in August, assaults began increasing there and at the high school, according to data police provided to The Washington Post. Then last month, 18-year-old senior Luis Mejia Hernandez was stabbed to death in a parking-lot melee involving 30 to 50 teenagers, authorities said.
In 2021, Alexandria police responded to 15 assaults, five offenses involving possession of weapons, two aggravated assaults and one rape at the high school campuses or immediately nearby — most all after students returned to classes in the late summer, according to the data obtained by The Post. Alexandria public school officials referred questions about security to the city police department. A police spokesman said ensuring school safety is among the department’sPolice arrested a 16-year-old student last week in Luis Mejia’s killing. Authorities have not named the teen because he is a minor. The state has charged him with second-degree murder and is seeking to try him as an adult, according to information released by the Alexandria Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court.