A 16-year-old male student was shot inside Wootton High School in suburban Maryland on Monday afternoon, and police have arrested another student in the case, officials said.
The suspect, who is also 16 and lives in Rockville, will be charged as an adult, officials in Montgomery County said.
The victim, who police say is from Gaithersburg, was taken to a hospital in stable condition. The students’ names were not released. Both are students at Wootton.
The school campus was placed on lockdown.
“Today is a heartbreaking and deeply unsettling day for our entire community,” Thomas Taylor, superintendent of Montgomery County Public Schools, said at an evening news conference. “The kids and our staff are emotionally exhausted and understandably traumatized by today’s events.”
“Every kid deserves to come to a safe learning environment and a safe school community,” Taylor added.
Thomas S. Wootton High School sits a little more than a mile west of downtown Rockville. Police were called there about 2:15 p.m. for a report of shots fired. “They started pushing their way into the school in an attempt to find the shooter and or victim,” Montgomery County Assistant Police Chief David McBain said Monday night.
Officers found the victim, who had been shot once, in a hallway of the school, officials said.
“A short time later, a suspect was identified and apprehended in close proximity to the school,” said Rockville Police Chief Jason West, whose department is leading the case. “This is a very active and ongoing investigation.”
He said detectives were trying to find the gun used in the shooting and to determine a motive.
Back at the school, tactical officers searched for any additional suspects or victims, McBain said.
“That search took a considerable amount of time,” he said. “We effectively and safely cleared the school of any other suspects.”
Shortly after 4 p.m., police said that students were still in the school. They were released around 4:30 p.m., officials said, with some going to Robert Frost Middle School to reunite with their parents.
Police said students who ride a bus would take their regular route home.
Taylor said the school district recently announced a pilot program to study AI-powered weapons detection systems at three high schools. “There’s still a lot for us to learn about weapons detection and how it can best serve our community,” he said, adding that “there’s an urgency to at least explore every option.”
The pilot program is not being run at Wootton.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) posted on X that he was aware of the shooting. “Our team is in contact with local authorities and we’re closely monitoring the situation,” he said.
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