Rockville, Maryland– A 16-year-old student was shot inside a suburban Maryland high school on Monday and another student was taken into custody, police said.
The Rockville Police Department said in a Facebook post that a student was found shot in a hallway and was taken to the hospital in stable condition.
The administration said the suspect is also a 16-year-old student. He was identified and arrested near the school shortly after. Both students were boys.
“At this time, there is no further threat to public safety,” police said.
The department said officers were dispatched at 2:15 p.m. to reports of a shooting at Thomas S. Wootton High School in Rockville, a suburb of Washington, D.C.
Investigators are still searching for the firearm used in the shooting, Rockville Police Chief Jason West said at a news conference. He added that the alleged shooter’s motives are still under investigation. Authorities did not find any other suspects after the search.
Other students were in the area during the shooting and were interviewed, West said.
Heather Rodriguez, whose daughter is in ninth grade at Wootton, said she jumped in her car and drove to school in a state of panic and adrenaline after she heard about the shooting. She stood outside the school for several hours, and her daughter texted that she heard gunshots, that the school was on lockdown and that police were everywhere.
“Everyone is acting like we’re going to die,” her daughter said in a text message. “If anything happens, I love you.”
Other parents were glued to their phones trying to communicate with their children.
Mental health support is available for students and their families, said Thomas W. Taylor, superintendent of Montgomery County Public Schools.
“Today is a heartbreaking and extremely disturbing day for our entire community,” Taylor said. “The children and our staff are understandably emotionally exhausted and traumatized by today’s events.”