Family & Education

Student detained at Watkins Mill High for firearm possession

Gaithersburg school placed on hold status for 20 minutes Friday, police say

Ashlyn Campbell

April 24, 2026 1:59 p.m.

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The entrance to Watkins Mill High School, 10301 Apple Ridge Road. Photo credit: G. Edward Johnson via Wikimedia Commons

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A Watkins Mill High School student was detained Friday afternoon after reports of a student with a firearm sent the Gaithersburg school into a hold status, in which students were kept briefly in classrooms, according to social media posts from Montgomery County police.

According to police, officers were dispatched to the school at 10301 Apple Ridge Road at about 11:41 a.m. for the report of a student with a firearm. The posts did not say who made the report or whether the student was inside or outside of the school.

The firearm was located in the student’s backpack, police said, and the student was detained. According to police, the scene is secure and there is no additional threat to the school community. The school was placed on hold status for 20 minutes and as of roughly 12:36 p.m., the school had returned to normal operating status.

MCPS introduced new emergency protocols for the 2025-2026 school year that change the language surrounding actions that schools implement in certain situations, such as shelter-in-place, which was previously used as a catch-all for a variety of conditions, including medical emergencies, police activity and weather events.

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When a school implements a hold status, students must clear the hallways and remain in a room or area until an “all clear” is announced, according to MCPS. Staff are required to close and lock classroom doors and account for all students and other adults, but classes should continue. The hold response is meant to be used to keep hallways clear during situations such as medical emergencies.

Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) spokesperson Liliana López didn’t immediately respond Friday to an emailed request for any messages sent from the school to the community about the incident.

The hold on Friday follows another incident on April 7 in which a student was detained at the Gaithersburg school for allegedly bringing a firearm to campus. A Gaithersburg High School student was also arrested in March for possession of a loaded handgun on school property.

Additionally, Friday’s incident comes more than two months after a 16-year-old boy was injured in a February shooting at Thomas S. Wootton High School in Rockville. That incident resulted in an hours-long lockdown that shook the school community. Another 16-year-old student is facing an attempted murder charge in connection with the shooting.

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Originally published at Bethesdamagazine