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ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A driver struck a man walking on King Street late Wednesday night and then briefly left the scene, the Alexandria Police Department said. It is the fifth crash involving a pedestrian that the department has posted about on its social media accounts this month.
APD posted on its official account at 2:39 a.m. Thursday that the 2200–2300 block of King Street was closed while officers investigated, and asked drivers to avoid the area.
In a statement to The Alexandria Brief Thursday afternoon, APD communications manager Tracy Walker said officers responded at about 11 p.m. Wednesday, April 22, to the 2200 block of King Street for a report of a person in the roadway. They found an adult man who had been struck by an external component of a passing vehicle, believed to have been traveling eastbound on King Street, Walker said. Medics took the man to a local hospital, where he was in stable condition. The driver initially left the scene and later returned, according to the statement. The department's Crash Reconstruction Team is investigating.
The Alexandria Brief has also asked the department for any comment on the pattern of pedestrian crashes it has posted about this month. The five crashes described in this article reflect those APD announced publicly on social media — typically because they resulted in road closures or sustained police activity — and may not represent every crash involving a pedestrian in Alexandria during that period.
Four earlier APD posts
In the three weeks before Wednesday night, APD used its social media accounts to announce four other crashes in which drivers struck pedestrians.
- April 1. A driver struck a pedestrian at the intersection of Mill Road and Eisenhower Avenue, closing the intersection, APD said. Officers investigated at the scene, and the intersection later reopened.
- April 4. A driver struck a pedestrian at the intersection of Mt. Vernon Avenue and E. Braddock Road, closing the intersection, according to APD. Officers investigated at the scene, and the intersection reopened at about 5:46 p.m.
- April 7. A driver struck a pedestrian at the intersection of N. Van Dorn Street and Sanger Avenue, closing N. Van Dorn between Maris Avenue and Taney Avenue, APD said. The department said the pedestrian was taken to a hospital. The road reopened at about 6:19 p.m.
- April 20. A driver in a black Chevrolet Suburban struck and killed a 62-year-old woman at about 5:26 p.m. at the intersection of N. Saint Asaph and Montgomery streets, APD said. The driver, a 46-year-old man, remained at the scene and was cooperating with investigators, APD communications manager Tracy Walker told The Alexandria Brief. The department's Crash Reconstruction Unit is investigating, and the medical examiner is conducting an autopsy. APD has not said whether charges will be filed. The intersection reopened at approximately 10:30 p.m.
Of the five crashes posted this month, Wednesday night's was the only one APD initially described on social media as a hit-and-run, though the department later said the driver returned to the scene.
A separate crash on April 15
Between APD's April 7 and April 20 posts, another driver struck a pedestrian in a crash that drew a public response from city leaders. On the evening of April 15, a driver struck an 11-year-old boy just after 6 p.m. in the 5700 block of Sanger Avenue, near William Ramsay Elementary School, according to police radio dispatches. The driver stayed at the scene, and the boy's injuries were described as non-life-threatening. Mayor Alyia Gaskins addressed the crash in her daily video update to constituents the following day.
Police response
In Thursday's statement, Walker said APD is increasing high-visibility traffic enforcement at multiple intersections in North Old Town, targeting speeding, failure to yield, and distracted driving. She described the effort as proactive and said it is not related to the ongoing crash investigation.
Walker also said the week's crashes were a reminder that roadway safety is a shared responsibility, and she offered guidance for both drivers and pedestrians. Drivers, she said, should slow down and remain alert in areas with high foot traffic, be prepared to stop at crosswalks and yield to pedestrians, avoid distractions, and watch carefully for people entering or already in the roadway, particularly at night or in low-visibility conditions. She said pedestrians should use marked crosswalks and follow pedestrian signals when available, make themselves as visible as possible — especially at night — limit distractions, and try to make eye contact with drivers before crossing.
Vision Zero
The recent incidents come as the city continues to pursue its Vision Zero initiative, a program adopted by City Council in December 2017 that sets a goal of eliminating traffic deaths and severe injuries on Alexandria streets by 2028, according to the city. Vision Zero's infrastructure work — such as signal changes, speed management and intersection redesigns — applies only to city-maintained streets; state- and federally-owned roads within city limits, including I-395 and I-495, fall under Virginia Department of Transportation authority.
The city's Vision Zero Crash Dashboard recorded 863 crashes across all Alexandria roads in 2025 — the most recent year for which data is available — including four fatal crashes, 39 serious injuries, 321 minor injuries, 54 possible injuries and 445 property-damage-only crashes. Of those, 615 occurred on city- or town-maintained streets, including two of the four fatal crashes. About 6 percent of city-street crashes in 2025 were coded as hit-and-runs. The dashboard does not yet include 2026 data.
Looking at pedestrian and bicyclist crashes specifically across all Alexandria roads, the dashboard has recorded 478 such crashes since Vision Zero was adopted in December 2017, including 19 fatal and 68 that caused serious injuries. Annual totals fell during 2020 through 2022 — a period of reduced travel during the COVID-19 pandemic — before rising again. The 64 recorded in 2024 were the most in any year since the program's adoption, and the dashboard had logged 60 in 2025 through late November.
Since Alexandria adopted Vision Zero in December 2017, the dashboard has recorded 29 fatal crashes on city-maintained streets through late November 2025, the most recent dashboard update. When state- and federally-owned roads within city limits are included, the total rises to 43. The city announced in February 2024 that it had ended 2023 with zero traffic fatalities, calling the result a milestone for its Vision Zero efforts. The dashboard has since recorded two fatal crashes on city streets in each of 2024 and 2025; citywide fatalities across all road ownerships totaled six in 2024 and four in 2025.
Monday's fatal crash at N. Saint Asaph and Montgomery streets, in which a driver struck and killed a pedestrian, occurred on city-maintained roads and will be added to the dashboard when it is next updated. Two additional 2026 fatalities occurred within Alexandria's city limits on state- or federally-owned roads — a driver struck and killed a pedestrian on I-395 near the Duke Street exit on March 24 and then fled the scene, and a motorcyclist was killed on I-495 on April 15 — both of which are being investigated by Virginia State Police.
The city lists several active Vision Zero projects that touch on pedestrian safety, including West End high-crash intersection audits, school-zone speed cameras, Mount Vernon Avenue North improvements, North Duke Street turn calming, corridor speed management, and the installation of leading pedestrian intervals and "No Turn on Red" restrictions at select intersections. Completed Vision Zero work includes a citywide pedestrian lighting improvements study, Duke Street / Route 1 high-crash intersection audits, intersection improvements at King Street, Callahan Drive and Russell Road — on the same corridor as Wednesday night's crash, east of the closure — and a neighborhood slow zone pilot.
Separately, the city this week began installing new adaptive traffic signal cabinets along Duke Street as part of its Smart Mobility Program. According to the city, the new system uses video and LiDAR-based detection to adjust signal timing in real time. Additional intersection upgrades are scheduled along the corridor in the coming months.
What police are asking
Anyone with information about the Wednesday-night King Street crash may contact APD's non-emergency line at 703-746-4444. Tips may be left anonymously.
This story will be updated as more information becomes available.
Updated Friday, April 24, with minor clarifications to crash-day references and revised to use more active language describing the crashes.
Updated Thursday, April 23, 2026, 3:55 p.m., with additional details and safety guidance from the Alexandria Police Department.
