Police: Boy Pointed Fake Gun At Students, Caused Panic At Md. Middle School
ROCKVILLE, Md. (WJZ) -- A middle school student has been charged with making a threat of mass violence after police say he brought a fake gun to a Rockville school and pointed it in an auditorium packed with kids, causing students to panic and run.
Montgomery County Police say the 12-year-old boy brought the replica gun to Earle B. Wood Middle School on Wednesday.
Officers responded to the school around 3:50 p.m., 20 minutes after investigators say the boy walked into the auditorium and took out the gun -- which turned out to be plastic and was spray painted black -- and began showing it to a group of girls.
Authorities say the student told the group that the "safety was on" and began to point the gun around the auditorium. The students started to scream, which drew more attention to the student with the fake gun. Students began to panic and run, according to police.
Several students approached one of the teachers in the auditorium and told her that the boy had a gun. The teacher told the students to seek shelter behind the stage. The teacher then found the boy sitting on a mat, holding the gun with his finger on the trigger, police say.
She told the student to give her the gun, and he put the gun back in his backpack and gave her the bag.
The boy has been charged with threat of mass violence, disrupting school activities and threatening others with bodily harm.
He was released to his guardian.
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