Colonel Zadok Magruder High School went into a full lockdown Thursday morning after school security and police uncovered two separate weapons on campus within the same response — a knife and a BB gun — leading to the arrest of two students and a fresh round of anxiety in a Montgomery County community still reckoning with the school's history of gun violence.
Lockdown Triggered by Reports of a Weapon
Officers from the Montgomery County Police Department and the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office descended on the Rockville-area high school around 8:47 a.m. Thursday after reports that a weapon was inside the building, according to The MoCo Show. The campus was placed under full lockdown while officers swept the building, then eased into a hold status once the immediate threat was addressed, with normal operations resuming by around 10 a.m., per the same outlet. As CBS News reported, police said two students at Magruder High were taken into custody following two separate incidents involving weapons that had been located on campus, and MCPS placed the school in a hold status as a precaution.
One student was found in possession of a knife, while a second student was found carrying a BB gun, according to CBS News. Montgomery County Police Department confirmed the school was later cleared following the sweep.
Assault Charges Filed Against 15-Year-Old
The more serious case involves a 15-year-old student who was taken into juvenile custody after allegedly attacking a school administrator and a security guard during the weapon investigation. The teen was charged with first-degree assault, second-degree assault, possession of a dangerous weapon on school property, and disruption of a school day, and the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services authorized his detention, according to The Washington Times. Montgomery County Police reported that the charges stem from the altercation with staff that unfolded as officers investigated the weapons report.
The second weapon discovery played out differently. School security officers found the other student carrying a knife while they were actively investigating the initial report of the BB gun, and that incident was confiscated on the spot without any reported injuries, according to Patch. Rather than facing criminal charges, that student was referred for internal administrative discipline through Montgomery County Public Schools, the outlet reported.
A School Still Shadowed by 2022
Thursday's incident lands with particular weight at Magruder, the site of Montgomery County's first-ever shooting inside a public school building. In January 2022, then-17-year-old Steven Alston Jr. shot 15-year-old DeAndre Thomas inside a campus bathroom using an unregistered ghost gun, according to FOX 5 DC. Thomas survived after undergoing 10 surgeries for severe pelvic and abdominal injuries, the station reported. Alston later pleaded guilty to attempted first-degree murder and was sentenced in December 2022 to 40 years in prison with all but 18 years suspended, with prosecutors recommending placement in a specialized youth offender program.
That history has kept weapons incidents at Magruder under a brighter spotlight than elsewhere in the district. It also comes as the school has been testing new security technology: Magruder was selected in February 2026 as one of three pilot campuses for VOLT-AI, an artificial intelligence system designed to interface with existing security cameras and alert staff to visible weapons or violent altercations in real time, according to Montgomery County Public Schools. The district has said the pilot was launched to enhance threat identification without relying on facial recognition. It remains unclear whether the system played any role in flagging either weapon found Thursday.
Part of a Broader Districtwide Trend
The dual weapons discovery also fits into a pattern district officials have been tracking closely. Incidents involving knives and other weapons in Montgomery County Public Schools rose to 221 during the 2023–2024 academic year, a 30 percent increase over the prior year, as total reported security incidents districtwide reached 4,424, according to Montgomery Community Media. High schools bore the brunt of the most severe disruptions, accounting for 47 percent — 334 incidents — of the 726 critical safety incidents recorded across MCPS that year, per Moderately MOCO, which defines critical incidents as those with the potential to directly impact student safety.
Under Section 4-102 of Maryland's Criminal Law Code, possessing or carrying a firearm, knife, or other deadly weapon on public school property is a misdemeanor punishable by up to three years in prison and a fine of up to $1,000, with narrow exceptions for law enforcement officers and designated guards, according to Justia's summary of the statute.
Security staffing at Magruder has also changed since 2022. Following public debate over the shooting, MCPS replaced stationed School Resource Officers with roaming Community Engagement Officers, including a dedicated Sheriff's deputy assigned to cover the Magruder cluster, according to The Washington Post. The shift was intended to balance security presence with concerns over student discipline practices, the paper reported.
Thursday's arrests follow other recent weapons cases in the district, including a Northwood High School student charged over a loaded ghost gun brought to campus in December. How MCPS plans to address the broader rise in campus weapons incidents remains an open question as the school year gets underway.
