A Montgomery County District Court judge has denied a request to move a Wootton High School student charged with shooting another student to a juvenile detention facility.

The teen’s lawyers plan to ask the court to transfer him to juvenile court, a request that may be considered at a preliminary hearing on the case, scheduled for Feb. 20.

Judge Michael Glynn ordered that the 16-year-old suspect, charged as an adult with attempted second-degree murder, be held without bond.

Prosecutors accuse the defendant of shooting another 16-year-old boy in a stairwell Monday, after pointing a gun at a 15-year-old girl at the school. The incident sent the school into lockdown as dozens of police officers, canine units and a SWAT team ran in to find the shooter.

State’s Attorney John McCarthy, who held a press conference after the bond hearing, did not answer questions about whether the girl had reported that someone had pointed a gun at her.

At the hearing, prosecutor Kimberly Cissel argued that the suspect should continue to be held in an adult facility because of the severity of the alleged crime and called him a potential threat to public safety.

State law requires that the initial jurisdiction for the case, given the charges, is the adult court system. But judges can transfer cases to juvenile court, which tends to focus more on rehabilitation and provides services tailored to young people.

The suspect’s attorneys, District Public Defender Sean Mukherjee and Assistant Public Defender Brett Lonker, argued that their client, now in an adult detention center in Rockville, should be moved to have access to the juvenile system’s mental health and education programs.

They said he does not have an adult or juvenile criminal record. Judges rule on transfers based on the charges and a defendant’s age and mental health.

The teen, who appeared virtually in the courtroom, is facing multiple charges in addition to attempted second-degree murder, including two counts of first-degree assault and two counts of second-degree assault.

The suspect allegedly shot the boy, an acquaintance, with a Polymer80 9 mm handgun, a “ghost gun,” or privately made firearm that lacks a serial number, officials said.

Cissel said the student who was shot remains in the hospital undergoing surgery. His mother, in a television interview Wednesday, said he was heavily sedated.

Officials Tuesday said he was in stable condition.

Antonio Planas contributed to this story.