Report For Magruder High School Shooting Recommends 911 Call Training

ROCKVILLE, MD — Montgomery County Public Schools staff should undergo more training on emergency and communication procedures, along with police and Fire and Rescue staff, a recent report from Montgomery County Public Schools' chief safety officer says. Some of that training has already begun, the report says.

The report outlines the timeline of events from the day a student was shot at Magruder High School in Rockville, and makes recommendations for how the district can improve safety in its buildings.

The student, who survived, was found in one of the boys bathrooms. Authorities say he was shot by a classmate using a ghost gun. Students and staff were kept in lockdown for hours after the shooting this January.

The report was sent to the director at the Maryland Center for School Safety and was released to the public.

Some improvements the district can make, according to the report, include:

• training for school front desk staff on how the 911 call process works and what information needs to be provided to the operator, as well as training for 911 operators to know what questions to ask school callers
• putting more "Stop the Bleed" kits in school buildings
• training sessions to improve coordination between leaders from MCPS, the police department and Fire and Rescue
• evaluate communication technology that staff is able to use during a prolonged lockdown
• Explore how students and staff can use the bathroom during a prolonged lockdown
• Review if the appropriate law enforcement agencies have key access to school buildings so they can get inside quickly when needed

Timeline of the Shooting

The report says that a security team leader noticed students running from the boys bathroom, which prompted him to go inside. He found more students running out and the injured student bleeding from his abdomen.

Multiple staff members responded with one of the "Stop the Bleed" kits, the report says.

The investigation of the shooting was complicated at first because the victim "was not cooperative" with the security team about telling them what had happened or who the other students seen leaving the bathroom were, according to the report. The report states that the students who ran from the bathroom never came forward to report what happened or get help for the victim.

Staff at the front office called 911 within minutes and told the operator a 16-year-old boy was injured and has possibly been stabbed, the report says. Before Fire and Rescue and police officers got to the building, it was determined that the student was shot, not stabbed, the report says. At that point a paramedic team was also dispatched to the school, according to the report.

The principal called for a school-wide lockdown at that point, which was announced on the PA system, according to the report. Fire and Rescue arrived and began life-saving measures. The first police officer to arrive was the community engagement officer for the school, who arrived about 7 minutes after the dispatch, the report says.

That officer determined there was not an active shooter, but that the shooter may still be in the building, and called for backup, the report says. It does not clarify how that officer made the conclusion. They viewed CCTV footage and saw information on social media which led officers to believe the shooting suspect was an 11th grade student.

That student was found and arrested, and officers found that he had broken down a "ghost gun," the report says.

The student, 17-year-old Steven Alston, has been charged with charged with attempted murder, first-degree assault and weapons charges. He will be tried as an adult, a Montgomery County Circuit judge decided last month.