Mel Madarang

WMAL.com

ROCKVILLE (WMAL) — A middle school student has been charged with making threats of mass violence on Thursday after pointing a replica gun in the auditorium of Earle B. Wood Middle School.

On Wednesday, around 3:51 p.m., a Montgomery County Police officer responded to the school located at 14615 Bauer Drive in reference to a report of a student who brought a replica gun to school, according to a press release.

Investigation revealed that there were about 120 students participating in extra-curricular activities in the auditorium around 3:30 p.m. when the 12-year-old male student entered and approached a group of girl students. The student took what appeared to be a real gun from his backpack and began to show it to the group. He told the group that the “safety was on” and began to point the gun around the auditorium. The students in the group started to scream, drawing additional attention to the student with the gun. Students began to panic and run, the release stated.

Several students approached one of the teachers in the auditorium and told her that the student had a gun. The teacher directed the students to seek shelter behind the stage. The teacher located the student sitting on a mat, holding the gun with his finger on the trigger, and directed the student to give her the gun. The student put the gun back in his book bag and gave it to the teacher. After inspecting the gun, the teacher found it to be plastic and had been spray painted black.

The student was arrested by the responding officer and transported to the 4th District Station, where he was then released to his guardian. The student was also charged with disrupting school activities and threatening others with bodily harm.

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