A Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School student who was involved in a shooting during a fight at a downtown Bethesda park during the school day in mid-February will serve 11 months in prison, according to the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office.
At Montgomery County District Court in Rockville on Monday morning, Circuit Court Judge Margaret Marie Schweitzer sentenced Nicolas Paolo Blanco, 18, to four years in prison with all but 11 months suspended, according to the state’s attorney’s office. Blanco will also serve three years of probation upon release.
The Feb. 19 incident began with a large group fight at Chase Avenue Urban Park at 4702 Chase Ave. and caused Bethesda Chevy-Chase High School and a nearby private school to go into a lockdown. The park is less than a mile from the school at 4301 East West Highway. While at least one shot was fired during the fight, no one was injured.
In April, Blanco pleaded guilty to first-degree assault, a felony, and underage possession of a firearm, a misdemeanor, according to digital court records. Blanco did not plead guilty to a third charge of reckless endangerment, also a misdemeanor.
Eric Bacaj, an attorney for Blanco, did not immediately respond to Bethesda Today’s email and phone call requests for comment Monday.
Digital court records indicate that Blanco is being held at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility in Boyds.
The incident
According to charging documents and police radio transmissions, a 911 caller reported around 10 a.m. an assault involving roughly 20 “kids” and the sound of a gunshot. The caller said the group fought on the street in front of the Chase Avenue Urban Park and then scattered after hearing a gunshot.
Maryland-National Capital Park Police officers responded to the area at 10:10 a.m. and recovered two live 9mm bullet rounds, a black face mask and a white audio earbud on Tilbury Street near the park, charging documents state. No suspects were seen in the area when officers arrived. Officers later canvassed the area looking for suspects, but did not make any arrests.
Montgomery County police and park police officers interviewed four witnesses who remained at the scene after the incident, the documents state. One of the witnesses had taken a 20-second video of the fight with their phone that showed a “physical altercation involving what appears to be approximately 10 juveniles, with two or more individuals actively fighting, and the sound of what sounds like a gunshot can be heard,” charging documents state.
A video shared with Bethesda Today that purportedly captures the incident shows two male teenagers fighting one another while other male teenagers watch. Other members of the group join the fight and begin yelling and hitting one another. As the group continues to fight, the teens move into the street. At one point during the fight, a person can be heard yelling to others to back up and another can be heard saying, “it’s loaded.” A gunshot is heard, but a gun isn’t seen on the video, and the group scatters.
While investigating at B-CC High, park police officers also spoke to a fifth witness who had reported seeing the fight and shooting, according to the charging documents. That witness told the officers he observed the incident while walking to a nearby 7-Eleven and told police that two suspects fled the scene in a black Dodge Charger.
The witness also shared footage of the fight with police. According to charging documents, this video footage of the fight “circulated on various social media platforms after the incident.”
B-CC High officials also reviewed the footage and identified the two suspects and others involved in the fight as B-CC students, charging documents said. Later, detectives ran a registration check on vehicles belonging to Blanco and found that a 2016 black Dodge Charger was registered in his name, charging documents said. When county officers searched the parking garage of the Bethesda address listed on the registration, they located the Dodge registered to Blanco.
Blanco was arrested Feb. 21 and was ordered to be held without bond by Montgomery County District Court Judge Victor Del Pino, according to digital court records. Blanco was indicted in mid-March and pleaded guilty April 4.
A second suspect, who is a juvenile and B-CC High student, was also arrested and charged with firearm-related charges after the incident. Park police did not release the juvenile’s identity or other details. According to charging documents, Blanco and the juvenile were identified after school officials reviewed video footage that was taken of the incident.
School lockdowns
As the incident unfolded, B-CC school officials obtained a video of the fight at the park and determined that individuals seen in the video attended the school. In a letter to the school community, Principal Shelton Mooney said the lockdown was ordered “out of an abundance of caution” to determine if any of the students had entered the school.
The lockdown lasted for several hours, according to the letter. During that time, school staff and law enforcement, including county and park police, worked to identify students, review security camera footage and gather information about the incident.
About a week after the shooting, another lockdown occured at B-CC High after a student brought an airsoft gun, a pellet gun that resembles a firearm, to the school.
Following the back-to-back lockdowns, leaders from Montgomery County Public Schools, county police and County Councilmember Andrew Friedson (D-Dist. 1) held a community meeting to discuss school safety. Parents and students at the meeting voiced concern and frustration about safety and looked for solutions to the issue.
One student, junior Faris Smith, told Bethesda Today after the meeting that the lockdowns are becoming normalized. “There is that recurring fear, like, ‘OK, am I going to be the next victim of gun violence?’ ” she said. “With the repeated lockdowns, it’s just repeated fear, so as a student that does impede my learning, day to day … it’s very unpredictable.”
