Within four minutes of the shooting at Rockville’s Wootton High School, the principal placed the campus on lockdown and a staffer called 911, according to a report on the incident released to families Wednesday.

The report outlines what happened after a shooting in a campus stairwell, providing the clearest picture yet of the Feb. 9 incident, in which a 16-year-old was injured. The victim was taken to recover at a hospital, and the suspect, a fellow student, was charged with attempted second-degree murder.

In the 56-page After-Action Report, district officials commend the response of law enforcement and campus staff, including the school nurse who rendered first aid to the injured student.

“The coordinated response of school personnel, emergency dispatchers, and EMS responders played a decisive role in saving the student’s life,” the report says.

But the report is likely to fuel questions about why students were wandering the hallway with limited adult supervision, and revive the debate over whether police should be stationed on campuses.

The report advises the district to improve its post-incident communication and ensure its security technology, like walkie-talkies, works properly.

Superintendent Thomas Taylor pledged to learn from what happened.

“I wish I could assure you that something like this will never happen again. I cannot,” he wrote. “But I can assure you that we will continue to learn, to adapt, and to do everything within our power to create safer, stronger, and more connected school communities for every student, family, and staff member.”

The school board is expected to discuss the findings Thursday.

Police have not communicated a motive for the shooting to MCPS, according to the report.

The initial response

The first officers arrived on campus at 2:20 p.m. — about three minutes after the 911 call.

The officer who monitors the area surrounding Wootton took longer to get there, arriving on the scene at 2:27 p.m., according to the report.

Rockville Police previously said the officer was “attending to an issue” at nearby Lakewood Elementary School, which sparked concerns among some families who wanted to know why the officer was not closer to the high school.

Rockville Deputy Chief of Police Barry Dufek said he believed officers responded to the Wootton incident rapidly and “exceptionally well.” He added that he has not personally verified the time stamps laid out in the district’s report.

“I know there is community concern about where the officer was. I will stand firm on the fact that the officer was at Lakewood Elementary dealing with a traffic issue,” he told The Banner on Wednesday.

There were some technical issues, though. A security staff member‘s radio communication about the shooting was hard to understand, according to the report.

“The radio call was not clear but the sense of urgency was conveyed,” it says.

After the shooting

The report outlines steps district leaders took to make Wootton safer after the shooting.

There are now more cameras, security staff and adults monitoring the hallways. Security footage from the day of the shooting shows the victim and suspect “moved around the school building with limited adult contact or interaction during class time,” the report says.

The two teenagers interacted on and off for at least 20 minutes before the shooting, based on footage described in the report.

“The incident reinforced the need for clearly defined hallway supervision structures, including consistent adult presence in high-traffic areas and transitional spaces,” it reads.

District officials said they would review schools’ emergency protocols and open-lunch practices, which allow students to leave campus.

They’re also piloting AI-powered weapon detection technology at three campuses.

Multi-campus lockdowns

After the shooting, the teenage suspect fled Wootton.

He was near other MCPS campuses before police found him.

Camera footage shows the suspect crossing the Fallsmead Elementary School campus around 2:25 p.m., according to the report.

About an hour later, police found him in a car in front of Julius West Middle School.

“He walked through the Fallsmead Elementary School campus prior to the incident notification to the school and the implementation of a Lockdown,” the report says. “Knowing this, it is imperative that all future incidents of this nature be seen as a potential multi-campus threat.”

Between 2:30 p.m. and 2:40 p.m., four neighboring schools were placed on lockdown. That’s at least 13 minutes after the Wootton 911 call.

At one of the locked-down elementary schools, some staff and students decided to evacuate the building, which goes against security procedures.

“This indicates that MCPS must improve its shared understanding of emergency terminology and situational awareness under stress conditions,” the report says.

Inside Wootton, the lockdown lasted until shortly after 4 p.m., when law enforcement decided it was safe enough for students to begin boarding buses to reunite with their families.

During the 114-minute lockdown, staff said there weren’t consistent methods for communicating updates, leaving them uncertain about when it was safe.

During that time, students and staff had no bathroom access. Law enforcement denied their requests to go because of the active investigation.

“Given the potential duration of a Lockdown, consideration should be given to having food, water, and hygiene products available for distribution if law enforcement determines it is safe to do so, particularly when access to restrooms and water fountains is prohibited,” the report says.

Communication and reunification

After the 2022 shooting at Magruder High School, parents said they received delayed and confusing messages from district staff about the shooting and how to pick up their children.

The Magruder After-Action Report outlined those missteps, saying that a “lack of communication caused misinformation and confusion for parents and students.”

The Wootton report shows the current district administration made some changes, though parents’ frustrations remained about the long process of reuniting with their kids.

Starting at 2:28 p.m., parents began receiving messages with information about campus safety and what to do next. Officials aimed to share a new alert at least every 20 minutes.

Parents were eventually directed to Robert Frost Middle School to pick up their children. Buses full of students began heading that way around 4:30 p.m.

“Wootton Parkway was closed by law enforcement due to the ongoing investigation, which contributed to traffic congestion and caused significant delays,” the report says.

It took hours before many anxious parents were able to hug their teenagers. The last student was released at 9:52 p.m.

District officials plan to audit their reunification plans, which would include assessing locations, traffic patterns and parking availability to ensure the sites can handle a lot of people and cars.

Mental health support

The morning after the shooting, Wootton reopened.

Students and staff had mixed feelings about whether that was the right call.

“As the Superintendent shared with the community, the decision to not have a delayed opening is one that should have been revisited,” the report says.

District leaders wanted to quickly connect the traumatized community with dozens of mental health providers.

The report encouraged administrators to consider each building’s unique culture when deciding how to offer help after a shooting.

“Per multiple student reports, students decided to not attend school following the incident when they learned that mental health support was prioritized over the traditional academic day,” it reads.