It turns out a group of supposed intruders with Halloween-style masks who tried to break into an Alexandria, Virginia, home while making threats, were aiming to prank their family members last week.
Three teen boys were behind the masks. A woman admitted she was responsible for the Oct. 14 “prank,” alongside her two sons and nephew, police Chief Tarrick McGuire said during a Monday morning news conference.
“At the end of the day, parents should be responsible for their children,” McGuire said. “What’s very disheartening about this situation is that you had adults that were engaging in this behavior, but also encouraging this behavior.”
Based off tips received after last week’s news conference, police said they reached out to the victim’s family members, who live in Fairfax County, a couple days after Tuesday’s attempted burglary.
That’s when the mother who was involved gave what McGuire described as a “full confession.”
In addition to the costumed teens and the woman, two other adults and another child were also nearby when the masked teens went up to the home in the 100 block of South Iris Street. At least one of those people was filming.
“In total, there were three adults and four children involved in what we now know was a prank,” McGuire said. “I want to specify the victim had no knowledge of this event because the family has chosen not to press charges.”
Police arrived at the scene two minutes after the person inside the home called 911 last Tuesday night. But before she called law enforcement, she reached out to her brother, who came to the home armed with a firearm.
“These are not pranks, right, to be taken lightly,” McGuire said. “It could have been deadly if that action was taken.”
Police spent around 100 hours investigating the Oct. 14 incident to identify the costumed individuals who “terrorized” family members inside the home, knocking on the front door and making threats.
The people inside the home didn’t open the door. The teens apparently damaged a fence behind the home and a storage unit. Ring camera footage from the “prank” was shared by national news outlets.
McGuire said they are not moving forward with charges, which could have included burglary, after conversations with the victims and the commonwealth’s attorney.
“While this incident may not result in a criminal prosecution, for me, my team and for this community, it represents a moral failure,” McGuire said. “We have saw this type of behavior around the country, where people have done pranks, and they have resulted in people being seriously injured or losing their lives.”
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