Shooting prompts school cancellations

Following Wednesday night’s fatal shooting of a 53-year-old man at a gas station just oustide Manassas city limits, Prince William County school officials decided to cancel all after-school and evening activities, sports or otherwise, until Monday at the earliest.

The shooting was “consistent” with six prior slayings since Oct. 2 from a Washington-area sniper, according to Prince William Police Chief Charlie Deane. Already on alert when five killings had occurred in Montgomery County, Md., and one in Washington, the schools didn’t hesitate to cancel events after Wednesday night’s shooting in Prince William.

Superintendent of Schools Edward L. Kelly announced that all indoor and outdoor athletic activities within Prince William County have been cancelled for Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The Scholastic Aptitude Tests still will be administered Saturday morning.

The week began with Kelly announcing a cancellation of outdoor events and pratices on Monday and Tuesday. Some teams went back outside Wednesday, while all field trips remained cancelled.

Temporarily, several schools are planning to reschedule Saturday night’s regularly scheduled football games for Monday night. Osbourn Park’s home game with Osbourn is among the games that could be played Monday, if the superintendent’s office approves.

“We’ve scheduled officials, but we’re waiting to hear from the superintendent’s office to play Monday evening,” Osbourn Park activities director Dan Evans said. “They’ll reassess on Monday and make a decision on whether we’ll play. We’re ready, but if we have to we’ll be happy to go to Plan B.”

The school’s cross-country meet at Albemarle on Saturday also has been called off. The Yellow Jakcets’ girls tennis team, originally scheduled to play Culpeper at home on Thursday in the Northwest Region quarterfinals, was considering a move of the match to Culpeper today. The girls’ tennis teams at Forest Park, Woodbridge and Stonewall Jackson traveled to Lynchburg and Charlottesville for regional play Thursday.

“It’s a very difficult situation and I think everybody has the safety of the community in the forefront in this trying time,” Evans said. “It’s just a wait-and-see; this is the first time this has ever happened in this area. I think everybody is touched by this in some way.”