Student facing attempted murder charge in connection with Wootton High shooting

Editor’s note: This story, originally published at 3:22 p.m. Feb. 9, 2026, was updated at 9:45 p.m. to include information from a Monday night press conference about the shooting. Additional information was added Feb. 10, 2026.

A 16-year-old student is facing an attempted murder charge following a Monday afternoon shooting that injured another student at Rockville’s Thomas S. Wootton High School, according to Montgomery County and Rockville City police.

The suspect, a male Wootton student from Rockville, has been charged as an adult with attempted murder and other offenses in connection with the shooting, Rockville City police said in a Tuesday morning statement. Late Monday night, detectives recovered a 9 mm handgun believed to have been used in the shooting. The gun was recovered off-site and not at the school.

The 16-year-old suspect was charged with attempted second-degree murder, two counts of first-degree assault, two counts of second-degree assault and several firearms-related charges, including possession of a dangerous weapon on school property, according to the statement. Bethesda Today doesn’t identify suspects who are minors.

He is being held at the Montgomery County Detention Center’s Central Processing Unit in Rockville and is awaiting a bond hearing. The date and time of the hearing was not available Tuesday morning in online court records.  

The 16-year-old injured male student from Gaithersburg is in stable condition at a local hospital, according to Montgomery County police.

Following Monday afternoon’s shooting, the student suspect was “quickly identified and arrested a short time later near the school,” according to police statements released Monday afternoon and evening. Police said there was “no further threat to public safety.”

Wootton High opened on time Tuesday following a Monday night announcement by Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS). In a Tuesday morning statement, the district said absences from school would be excused Tuesday and Wednesday.

“We know it’s important to be connected to resources, and we know that we have mental health supports that can assist our students and our families,” MCPS Superintendent Thomas Taylor said during a Monday night press conference near the school.

Two family meetings about the shooting are scheduled to be held at the school’s auditorium Tuesday. The first will be at 3:30 p.m. and the second will be at 6:30 p.m.

Police response

According to county police, officers and Rockville City police responded at about 2:15 p.m. for the report of shots fired near the high school at 2100 Wootton Parkway. The campus was placed on lockdown. The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office and Montgomery County police assisted in the response.

Responding officers found the injured student suffering from a single gunshot wound in a school hallway. The teen was transported to an area hospital and was in stable condition as of 8:30 p.m. Monday.

Assistant Montgomery County Police Chief David McBain told reporters at a Monday night press conference that K-9 dogs were used as part of a “methodical and slow search of the school.”

As of Monday night, McBain said officers were continuing to search the school for additional evidence. 

Rockville City Police Chief Jason West said during the Monday night press conference that the motive behind the shooting was still undetermined. 

“Our detectives will be working throughout the night,” West said. “I know everybody’s been out here for hours, but this investigation is still in its infancy at this point.” 

According to West, Rockville City police has a community engagement officer assigned to Wootton High School. At the time of the shooting, however, the community engagement officer was “attending to an issue at Lakewood Elementary School,” West said. He did not elaborate on the nature of the incident.

“I stand behind my original statements months ago when we put our officer at Wootton High School,” West said. “I think a collaborative partnership between law enforcement and our school community keeps our children safe, and we’re going to continue to do that in the future.”

The school remained on lockdown for several hours Monday afternoon as police searched the campus and worked to develop a reunification plan. At the time, police said “students remain inside of the school and are expected to be released shortly.”

Police said on social media that all roads to the school were closed. All students who ride a bus took their regular routes home, and parents of bus riders were asked not to come to the school, police said. Robert Frost Middle School at 9201 Scott Drive served as a family reunification site.

In the hours after the shooting, some Wootton parents also gathered at the staging area waiting for updates as news helicopters circled overhead. Idling cars lined the streets where police had set up barricades to block access to the nearby high school. Around 5 p.m., buses started arriving to pick up students from the school.

A press conference about the shooting was originally scheduled for 6 p.m. Monday, but did not begin until after 8 p.m. Asked about the delay in sharing information with the public, Taylor said the school system prioritized reunification in the aftermath of the shooting.

Several elected officials, including County Executive Marc Elrich and County Council President Natali Fani-González (D-Dist. 6), released statements following the shooting.

“I am shocked and heartbroken by the disturbing shooting at Wootton High School,” Fani-González said on social media. “With the police investigation underway, it is paramount that we remain focused on addressing the gun violence in our community. Guns have no place in our schools.”

Phoejin Kim, whose daughter is a sophomore at Wootton, was waiting at the police and media staging area Monday afternoon. She said she drove to the school from her workplace in Crystal City, Virginia, when she heard about the shooting. 

“My daughter has been texting, but she said she cannot talk,” Kim told Bethesda Today. “I’m just checking every now and then to see if she’s fine and safe.”