A 16-year-old boy is due in court Wednesday for a bond hearing after the Wootton High School shooting in Rockville, Maryland.
The 16-year-old boy accused of shooting a fellow student inside Rockville, Maryland’s Wootton High School on Monday texted a friend and asked him to bring a backpack to the school that prosecutors believe was carrying the gun, prosecutors said during a bond hearing Wednesday.
The teenager, who’s charged with attempted second-degree murder, will remain in jail after a judge ordered him held without bond at the conclusion of that hearing.
The 16-year-old is being charged as an adult with an additional two counts of first-degree assault, two counts of second-degree assault and possession of a dangerous weapon on school property.
At a Tuesday news conference, Rockville Police Chief Jason West said the teen pointed a gun at a 15-year-old girl earlier Monday before shooting a 16-year-old schoolmate. The teen charged in the shooting then left the school and hid the gun in his backyard, according to prosecutors.
West said the suspect and victim knew each other, but police are still investigating the motive behind the shooting.
West said the student who was shot is in stable condition.
“In this case, the second victim did not suffer injury,” West said. “However, through investigation, we learned that the suspect in the case pointed a firearm at that person earlier in the day, prior to this shooting occurring.”
Officers with the Montgomery County Police Department were dispatched to the high school around 2:15 p.m. Monday following a report of shots fired inside the school.
A student was found shot in a school hallway and taken to a hospital.
Police said officers recovered the weapon: a Polymer80 9 mm handgun, that they believe was used in the shooting. West said the weapon is commonly referred to as a “ghost gun,” and officers found it late Monday night, away from the school.
“We know that those types of firearms are very difficult to trace, if we can do that at all,” West said.
“Part of our investigation will include, ‘Where did that firearm come from? How did that student come into possession of that firearm, and how did it get into the school?’”
WTOP’s Luke Lukert and José Umaña contributed to this report.
Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.
© 2026 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.
Neal Augenstein
Source link