The stabbing of a student at Watkins Mill High School caused the Gaithersburg school to be placed on lockdown on Wednesday afternoon, according to police radio transmissions and Montgomery County police.
Just before 1:15 p.m., police and Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service (MCFRS) crews were dispatched to the school at 10301 Apple Ridge Road for the report of a stabbing that had just occurred. A caller to 911 said a student was stabbed in the arm and was in the health room.
According to a Wednesday letter from the school’s principal, Vilma Nájera, to the Watkins Mill community, at the end of fifth period, the administration was “made aware of a physical altercation between two students” that involved a weapon and resulted in the injury of one student.
Nájera said in the letter that immediate medical assistance was provided and emergency services came to the school and transported the student to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The school was also first placed into a shelter-in-place, which was then escalated to a full lockdown.
The school was placed on lockdown around 1:50 p.m., according to a police social media post. The student, who was not identified, suffered non-life-threatening injuries and was transported to a local hospital by MCFRS crews, police said.
Around 2:30 p.m., the school had transitioned to a shelter in place, but officers were still at the scene, police said in a social media post.
According to Nájera’s letter, the police and school security investigated the incident and “quickly determined the student who initiated the assault had left the building,” allowing the school to lift the lockdown.
At 3:20 p.m., police said in a social media post that the school was no longer on lockdown and police were investigating the “assault” on the student. No additional information on the incident or possible suspect was provided.
Montgomery County Public Schools spokesperson Liliana López said just before 3 p.m. in an email to Bethesda Today that students at the school had been dismissed.
Nájera commended teachers, students and staff for their “swift and cooperative response,” and said that the school’s counseling team would be available to provide support for those who need it.
“As principal, I am dismayed that students at Watkins Mill High School chose to resolve conflict
by resorting to anger and, in this case, harm,” Nájera said in the letter. “These are not the values I have communicated throughout the year and the type of behavior we have modeled for our students.”
