On Oct. 23, 2023, police found, detained, and charged a 17-year-old student at Walter Johnson (WJ) High School for possessing a loaded handgun.
The community’s students and parents expressed immediate alarm upon hearing this news. They began to question if schools were a safe space for students and whether this could encourage additional dangerous incidents that could make the community even more troubled. “It’s not great to assume just because one kid brought a gun to school everybody is gonna start bringing guns to school,” WJ junior Cristina Simpson said.
Staff and students were shocked WJ was the target for a gun incident since it is considered one of the best schools in Montgomery County. “I was in shock because I didn’t believe something like that could happen at WJ,” Simpson said.
The high school learned there was a student in possession of a firearm from another student who reported it to the school. Like other MCPS schools, WJ teaches its students that if they see something, they say something. Many wonder what would have happened if that courageous student did not speak up.
“It makes me feel a little better knowing there are people who are willing to speak out about it,” WJ senior Herling Narvaez said.
Despite the resolution of the specific incident, students remain uncertain about the possibility of a recurrence.
“So obviously, I don’t believe that I’m at school and there’s nobody else with a weapon, you know what I mean? So I don’t exactly always feel like safe or secure,” WJ sophomore Mya Andriamalala said.
The Montgomery County Department of Police Community Engagement Officers went to the school, where they would later arrest the student. Police took the student to the Montgomery County Central Processing Unit, awaiting a bond hearing. “I’m just glad there was such a quick response to it,” Simpson said.
After the school disclosed what had happened, the community spread the news throughout the county, mainly through social media. “I almost feel like we might be a little bit less likely to have an incident just because of all the publicity surrounding it as well as being in the media,” WJ health teacher Lorraine Goldstein said.
The community is contemplating solutions to prevent such disturbances from happening again at Walter Johnson and county-wide. Some people propose metal detectors in schools so no student or staff can enter the school with weapons.
“I’ve heard about it before and I think some schools do have metal detectors. I feel like it would just make it much harder, in my opinion. It would add more stress to, like, the whole gun situation,” Narvaez said.
Residents of Montgomery County consider the advantages and disadvantages of implementing metal detectors in schools and whether it would genuinely solve the issue. “I did a little further research [on metal detectors]. I’m not saying that it isn’t effective, I’m just saying it’s not as effective–it’s not like a ‘cure-all’,” Goldstein said.
Events like these cause fear and insecurity. However, the community is relieved to know there are individuals willing to report these incidents, contributing to creating a safer school environment.
Written by Sabrina Solares of Walter Johnson High School
Photo Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons