Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School (B-CC) went into lockdown after an individual fired shots just outside the school grounds, Feb. 19. MCPD officers arrived at the scene and reported a group of teenagers fighting before the situation escalated.

Maryland-National Park Police arrested two suspects connected to the shooting, today. Nineteen-year-old Nicholas Blanco is in police custody and facing first-degree assault, reckless endangerment and firearm-related offenses. The second suspect, an unnamed minor, is facing firearm-related charges. It remains undisclosed whether either suspect is an MCPS student.

The high school, which neighbors Whitman, took various precautions during the school day to secure all entrances and exits of the building and keep students in their classrooms. No injuries were reported.

Around 10:10 a.m., B-CC’s main office received a call from a community member reporting that they witnessed a fight and heard gunshots at Chase Urban Park, located 0.3 miles from the school. The caller said they saw teenagers scatter after hearing the shot. Upon examining a video of the fight, school officials recognized some of the fighting adolescents as B-CC students. The school entered lockdown at 10:57 a.m. to determine if the fighting students were threats and had entered the school. MCPD and Maryland-National Capital Park Police worked to gather details on the incident. At 1:21 p.m., the school transitioned to a shelter-in-place for the remainder of the day. Students were dismissed from school at a regular time, but after-school activities were canceled.

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B-CC junior Ximena Sacks feels she has grown accustomed to school lockdowns due to the growing number of threats through MCPS, she said.

“I was almost unfazed, and that’s bad because we’ve had so many lockdowns that we’re almost naturalized to the whole thing,” Sacks said. “It’s like we feel indifferent to this violence and these threats.”

Students involved in the altercation videotaped the fight from a cell phone. These clips circulated both the B-CC and Whitman student bodies, and MCPS staff have strongly discouraged the viewing and sharing of these videos.

B-CC’s Principal, Dr. Shelton Mooney sent out a school community letter addressing the incident and thanking MCPS and MCPD for their support. Mooney outlined various measures the school will take to provide support to the B-CC community. Increased MCPS Security staff, police and the MCPS Crisis Team will be available for students and staff throughout the week. School officials instructed teachers to postpone scheduled assessments for today. 

“I am grateful for the support of our community, our police partners and MCPS central office staff for their assistance,” Mooney said. “Every person who experienced this lockdown today will process it in a different way. While some may prefer to move forward, others will need space to process their feelings and some will not be able to react until some future time.”

Similar gun violence has occurred at MCPS schools in recent years, including at Magruder High School in 2022 and Northwood High School in 2024. At Magruder, a 17-year-old student was shot in a bathroom by another student and was left significantly injured.  At Northwood, a student was arrested with a loaded gun near the school.

These incidents have opened discussions among parents, students and staff about increasing security efforts to keep youth safe. MCPS parents testified in front of the Board of Education to demand more investment in safety after multiple schools went into lockdown earlier this year, Jan. 28.

Caron Gremont is the mother of a B-CC junior and an 8th grader who will attend B-CC next year.

“The school communicated with us throughout the lockdown, so I knew she was safe. But this is not just a B-CC problem — this is an American problem,” Gremont said. “We are getting used to regular lockdowns and school shootings. Our children deserve to be able to learn free from worries about gun violence.”

This trend reflects the increasing prevalence of broader threats of violence to MCPS schools, with 84 threats reported during the 2023-2024 school year — an 11.4% increase from the previous year. Whitman also experienced several bomb threats last school year.

Most recently, Superintendent Taylor announced new safety initiatives including an increase in faculty training, appointing a new Department of Security and Compliance chief and expanding the student identification programs that require students to show their school ID when entering MCPS buildings. 

B-CC junior Ariella Klugman said she laments having to go through emergency shutdowns several times.

“I’ve experienced multiple lockdowns at B-CC before, but they shouldn’t be something that a high schooler should have to go through more than once, or at all,” Klugman said. “It’s definitely scary and still takes a toll on a lot of people.”