Thomas S. Wootton High School in Montgomery County was placed on lockdown Monday afternoon after reports of gunfire inside the building, authorities confirmed.
Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD) units were dispatched to the school at approximately 2:15 p.m. ET following multiple calls alleging shots had been fired inside the campus.
By mid‑afternoon, officials confirmed one person had been shot and that at least one suspect was in custody as part of what police described as an “active incident.” All surrounding roads were closed, and school dismissal was delayed for more than an hour as officers secured the scene and worked to ensure student safety.
Thomas S. Wootton, located in Rockville just northwest of Washington, D.C., serves roughly 2,000 students in grades 9–12. The lockdown came as a shock to the community still familiar with a separate, high‑profile case involving a former Wootton student, Alex Ye.
In April 2024, Montgomery County Police and the FBI arrested Ye — who goes by Alex but is legally Andrea Ye — after authorities discovered a 129‑page document described as a manifesto outlining plans to carry out a school shooting at Wootton and another county school. Ye was later convicted in January 2025 on a charge of making a threat of mass violence related to that writing.
In that earlier case, police said Ye had not attended the school in person since 2022 and was taking online classes at the time of the arrest. The incident led to heightened security measures in the district and renewed focus on identifying and intervening early in threats to student safety.
This is a breaking story and details are continuing to develop. More information will be released as authorities provide official updates.
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