The 16-year-old suspect who allegedly shot another student at Thomas S. Wootton High School on Monday will be tried as an adult, Montgomery County Police said in a statement.

Police took the suspect, a male from Rockville, into custody near the school shortly after the shooting and have yet to recover the gun used in the incident or identify a motive, they said at a press conference Monday night.

The “community engagement officer” that Rockville Police assign to Wootton was on duty “attending to an issue” at nearby Lakewood Elementary School and not at the high school campus at the time of the shooting, said Rockville City Police Chief James West.

“Due to our quick response, we had responding officers on the scene within minutes,” he said.

Officers were dispatched to the school at around 2:15 p.m.

Police, including county and city police, sheriff’s deputies, emergency service workers, a SWAT team and canine units, fanned out through the school in search of the shooter and possible victims.

In a hallway, they found a 16-year-old male from Gaithersburg who had been shot. He is in stable condition.

Parents united with their children in the hours that followed at Robert Frost Middle School.

Superintendent Thomas Taylor called the incident “heartbreaking and deeply unsettling.”

“The kids and our staff are emotionally exhausted and understandably traumatized by today’s events,” he said at the press conference. He said Wootton will open on Tuesday and provide mental health support to students.

Taylor also said that the district is evaluating an AI weapons detection system through a pilot at three high schools: Bethesda Chevy Chase, Seneca Valley and Magruder.

“We’re not married to any particular approach or any particular idea,” he said of weapons detectors. “We’re certainly exploring it and today is a point and case as to why there is an urgency to at least explore every option.”

Montgomery County Public Schools do not have metal detectors, a policy decision that may be raised again in the wake of this shooting.

The school, Taylor said, would be open on Tuesday to connect students with resources, including mental health supports.

‘About as emotional as it gets’

Rockville City Council member Adam Van Grack said he texted his son, a student at Wootton, immediately after he heard about the shooting. His sophomore did not know why his school had locked down.

“Communicating with him in real-time was about as emotional as it gets as a parent — knowing that there’s a specific incident happening, and you don’t know if your son’s gonna be safe,” said the council member, who congregated with other parents on a corner near the school, waiting to reunite with their children.

“This is a great neighborhood. This is a great community. This does not happen here,” said Ron Cook, another father waiting to pick up his child. He added that he would now consider sending his son to a private school or homeschooling him.

Montgomery County Council President Natali Fani-González said she was heartbroken by the shooting and eager for a complete investigation.

“Guns have no place in our schools,” she said.

Metal detectors?

Taylor has said the district needs to invest more in campus safety. His latest budget proposal includes $1.7 million to pay for additional school-based security staffing.

About a year ago, a group of parents started an online petition asking for metal detectors in all middle and high school buildings.

The debate over whether high schools should be equipped with a weapons detection system has raged for years across districts nationwide. Some worry about the cost and are concerned that it could make students feel as if their school is a prison.

Others argue that the system could save lives.

In 2018, MCPS officials researched the costs associated with installing metal detectors in schools. They referenced the experience of the Los Angeles Unified School District, which found that “the metal detection system was ineffective compared to other security measures and had a negative impact on school climate.”

Gun violence statewide

Shootings inside school buildings remain rare in Maryland.

Here is a recent history of incidents in the state:

• In Glen Burnie last week, a 7-year-old boy accidentally shot himself in the finger while in a classroom. A man who lives with the child’s mother was charged with allowing a minor access to a gun.
• A 16-year-old Harford County boy fatally shot a 15-year-old fellow student in a Joppatowne High School bathroom in 2024.
• At Baltimore’s Frederick Douglass High School in 2019, a staff member was shot and injured by the family member of a student in the school lobby.
• In 2018, a 16-year-old girl was killed at Great Mills High School in St. Mary’s County after her ex-boyfriend shot her.
• In Montgomery County, families were shaken by a shooting in 2022 at Magruder High School. A 17-year-old student used a ghost gun to shoot a 15-year-old boy inside of a campus restroom. He was severely injured.

Banner reporters Liz Bowie and Jack Hogan contributed to this story.