Police in Northern Virginia are on alert after receiving information about “potential public safety impacts to malls and shopping centers across the region.” Officials said there there was not a specific threat, and they were acting out of an abundance of caution.

Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis announced the increased patrols at a press conference on Friday afternoon. He said as police work to confirm the information, they are boosting their presence on major thoroughfares, transit hubs, and shopping centers. He said people should be vigilant and report any suspicious activity, by calling 911 or the police non-emergency number.

Pressed again and again by reporters for details on the possible threat, Davis said he didn’t have any details to share.

“Sometimes the information we receive is not with great specificity, but we have to respond to it nonetheless. And that’s what we’ve done with this information. We’re simply being proactive. We’re acting with an abundance of caution,” Davis said.

“I don’t have anything more specific beyond that to share,” Davis added. “If I did, I would share it because it would be my responsibility to share it.”

Arlington County Police issued a statement, confirming the department was “aware of information circulating regarding a non-specific, unconfirmed threat to shopping centers,” but said “there is no specific or identified threat to our region.”

Still, ACPD is deploying additional resources this weekend, according to the statement, including “both visible and non-visible assets.”

Prince William County put out a similar statement, reading, “We have not received any credible information of a threat.” Alexandria police called the information “limited,” in a statement, but said they would increase patrols in “high visibility” locations.

In an email to DCist, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said “We have no comment.”

The email went on: “The FBI takes all potential threats to public safety seriously and we take all appropriate steps to determine the credibility of any information we receive.”

In D.C., police are “aware of the posts circulating on social media regarding the potential threats at shopping centers in Northern Virginia,” a spokesperson said in an email to DCist. “We already have additional resources on hand for Halloween events this weekend.”

During the press conference in Fairfax, Davis seemed to try to downplay the possible threat, repeatedly saying, in response to questions, “it’s just information,” or “it’s simply information.” (He used the word “information” 28 times in the 8-minute press conference.)

He described the increased patrols as nothing unusual.

“We have ramped up our presence at places where people shop, at places where people recreate, gather, dine,” said Davis. “We routinely do this — this is nothing necessarily out of the ordinary for us to ramp up a police presence during a holiday weekend, and that’s simply what we’re doing in this case.”