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The suspect was also a 16-year-old student, the department said.
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.
Officers were dispatched at 2:15 p.m. because of reports of
shots fired at Thomas S. Wootton High School in Rockville, a
suburb of Washington, D.C., the department said.
Investigators were still looking for the firearm used in the
shooting, Rockville Police Chief Jason West said at a news
conference. The alleged shooter's motive was still under
investigation, he said. Authorities didn't find any other
suspects after a search.
Other students were in the area during the shooting and were
being interviewed, West said.
Heather Rodriguez, whose daughter is in the ninth grade at
Wootton, said she jumped in her car and drove to the school in a
rush of panic and adrenaline after she heard about shooting. She
stood outside the school for several hours, and her daughter
texted that she had heard gunshots, that the school was in
lockdown and police were everywhere.
“Everyone’s acting like we are going to die,” she said her
daughter texted. “If anything happens, I love you.”
Other parents had been glued to their phones trying to
communicate with their children.
Mental health support was available for students and their
families, said Thomas W. Taylor, the superintendent of
Montgomery County Public Schools.
“Today is a heartbreaking and deeply unsettling day for our
entire community,” Taylor said. “The kids and our staff are
emotionally exhausted and understandably traumatized by today’s
events.”
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