It has been nearly a week since a 15-year-old student was shot and critically injured in a bathroom at Magruder High School in Derwood, Maryland, and new information has emerged about what happened in the hours following the shooting.
As the school went into lockdown Friday, the alleged 17-year-old shooter, Steven Alston Jr., was ushered into a classroom.
Nobody knew he was a suspect at the time.
“I was looking at Instagram and Twitter seeing that there was a shooter in the school,” said a 16-year-old girl who was locked down in the classroom with other students including Alston. “We didn’t really know if there was an immediate danger or anything.”
Given the sensitive nature of the situation, the girl’s family allowed her to speak with WTOP on the condition that her name not be made public.
Listen: When the alleged Magruder High School shooter was arrested last week, he was in a classroom with other students. This 16-year-old girl was in that room and explains how the traumatic situation unfolded. @WTOP pic.twitter.com/SsG4pOgejy
— Nick Iannelli (@NickWTOP) January 27, 2022
She said her classroom was locked down for about two hours until a SWAT team busted in with guns drawn and arrested Alston.
“They kind of kicked the door open and just started screaming at everyone to put our hands up,” she said. “They handcuffed the dude and took him out and they brought us out one by one and patted us down.”
It was a traumatic moment for the girl and her friends.
“When the SWAT team came in I started shaking really badly cause I didn’t know what was going on,” she said. “A lot of people including me started crying.”
As was reported by Montgomery County police, some students provided information about the shooting on Twitter rather than calling 911.
The 16-year-old student told WTOP she believed that was a big mistake.
“They didn’t alert anybody they kind of just left him there to die,” she said. “They didn’t tell the authorities about it or anything so I think that was just really bad.”
A judge ruled Monday that Alston would be held without bond.
Alston is charged with attempted second-degree murder, first-degree assault, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, possession of a dangerous weapon on school property and possession of a firearm by a minor.
He’s being prosecuted as an adult.
Investigators said that Alston and the victim agreed to meet to settle a dispute. They said Alston used an untraceable “ghost gun,” buying parts for the gun online and then assembling the weapon.
