The report of a student potentially having a gun on school grounds triggered a brief lockdown at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School on Wednesday morning. No gun was found.
Montgomery County Public Schools said officials at the high school received a call from a parent of a student who witnessed a verbal altercation in a school hallway and thought another student might have a gun.
The call came from the parent at 9:55 a.m., and the school initiated a lockdown about four minutes later.
Montgomery County police and personnel from the school system’s Department of School Security and Emergency Management responded to the school and began investigating, including interviewing the student who reported the fight.
The police determined there was no credible threat and no weapon was found.
The school lifted the lockdown at 11:20 a.m.
The incident comes just a day after MCPS Superintendent Monifa McKnight informed parents that police and officials with the state’s attorneys’ office will hold presentations for students about the consequences of gun violence. The sessions will also include “strategies for youth to solve problems without weapons or violence” among other topics.
Speaking to reporters Wednesday morning, County Executive Marc Elrich said understanding why young people would choose to get and use firearms is critical to dealing with gun violence.
“We have not talked about this enough,” he said, adding, “I don’t think we’ve done enough communicating with children about where this all leads. I don’t think we understand fully why children are making choices to go down that path.”
