Fairfax runaway who closed all Fredericksburg schools ARRESTED out of state

All five Fredericksburg City Public Schools were closed Friday, March 21, due to a wanted 16-year-old from Fairfax.

Fasihullah Safar, who lives in Alexandria, was reported missing by his family on March 17, according to Fairfax County Police Department.

On Wednesday, March 19, a school resource officer saw him at James Monroe High School in Fredericksburg. The school system said when the SRO approached him, he fled. A search was conducted in the area but he wasn’t found.

In an update, Fairfax PD noted that when the Fredericksburg SRO saw Safar he was “behaving suspiciously.”

“We believe there are potential safety and security concerns with this individual’s mental state. In an abundance of caution, Fredericksburg City Public Schools were closed Friday, March 21^st,” a statement from Fredericksburg Police Department said.

Fredericksburg Police said Safar was wanted for trespassing and urged the public to reach out if they had any information about the teen.

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Meanwhile, surrounding Spotsylvania County schools were open. Although the Spotsylvania County Sheriff said there were no threats against Spotsylvania schools at that time, he announced there would be additional patrol units added around the school system on Friday.

Later, possibly explaining why Fredericksburg schools were open on Thursday but closed on Friday, Fredericksburg Police provided an update explaining the FBI reached out to them on Thursday evening as they were also trying to locate Safar. The department didn’t share why the FBI is trying to find the teen.

But Fredericksburg PD said information from the FBI helped them identify Safar as the boy who was trespassing at the school. That “elevated our concern for safety in our schools,” Fredericksburg PD stated.

Fredericksburg PD said they started working with the FBI to find Safar, but those efforts were unsuccessful. However, during the course of their investigation, Stafford County Sheriff’s Office announced that Safar is suspected of stealing a vehicle in Stafford Thursday night. That vehicle was found “out of state” Friday afternoon.

With it appearing Safar was no longer in the area, by midday Friday, Fredericksburg Police concluded there was no direct threat to the Fredericksburg City Public School system.

Around 5 p.m. Friday, it was revealed that Safar was arrested in Florence, New Jersey, a township in Burlington County. At this time, it’s unclear what charges he faces.

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