D.C. teen allegedly found with ghost gun, arrested in downtown Silver Spring

A judge ordered 17-year-old boy to be held without bond in MoCo jail

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June 24, 2026 6:38 p.m.

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Following a burglary investigation in downtown Silver Spring on Friday, Montgomery County police arrested a 17-year-old boy from Washington, D.C., for allegedly possessing a ghost gun, the department said Wednesday in a news release.

The teen was charged as an adult and is facing charges of fourth-degree burglary, obstructing and hindering, and firearm-related offenses, police said. While the release identified the teen, Bethesda Today does not publish the names of minors charged with crimes.

After his arrest, the teen was transported to the Montgomery County Central Processing Unit in Rockville, according to police. He is being held without bond in the county jail.

Court records for the teen, including attorney information, are not available in the Maryland Case Search database because he is a minor.

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The arrest occurred Friday evening in downtown Silver Spring after a resident alerted officers conducting “proactive enforcement” in the area, according to police. The person told officers that a group of people had entered an area of an apartment building that was under construction in the 800 block of Sligo Avenue and were gambling.

Officers went to the apartment building and saw the group of people in a stairwell “throwing dice with cash on the ground,” the release said.

In a video posted by police on social media that showed body-camera footage from the incident, an officer is seen walking into the stairwell where a group of four or five young men is standing around. Some cash is lying on the ground and no weapons can be seen.

When officers approached the group, one person, who police later identified as the teen from D.C., attempted to grab a satchel.

“Hey. Hey. Everybody, everybody here — come here,” one officer is heard in the video. The footage then abruptly cuts to a moment where the officer and one of the people in the stairwell struggle over something off camera. In the background, one of the young men in the group sits on the ground and watches. As some in the group begin to flee, the officer runs after them.

According to police, a responding officer “secured” the satchel from the teen and “immediately recognized” there was a firearm inside. After doing so, police said the teen ran out of the building.

Officers chased the teen through the neighborhood and eventually located him hiding under a vehicle in a parking lot in the 700 block of Sligo Avenue, the release said. The teen was then taken into custody.

The video footage posted by police shows the officer running through the neighborhood after the teen, looking through a wooded area with a flashlight and climbing over a fence into a parking lot. There, the officer spots the teen under a red car and yells at the teen to show his hands.

As officers handcuff the teen, who was lying face down on the ground, one in the video can be heard saying, “It’s gonna be our guy.”

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The area where the arrest occurred a residential neighborhood that borders downtown Silver Spring with a mix of single-family homes, multi-family apartment buildings and a few businesses and restaurants.

Later, officers inspected the firearm in the satchel and determined it was a loaded “privately made” 9mm handgun, also referred to as a ghost gun, according to the release.

Because the teen is younger than 21 years old, he is prohibited from possessing a firearm.

In Maryland, the possession of an untraceable firearm, as well as the sale, transfer or possession of an unserialized privately made firearm, is prohibited, according to Maryland State Police. Firearms that are privately made must be marked with a serial number in compliance with Maryland law.

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Originally published at Bethesdamagazine